Republican moves to impeach Trump Cabinet member responsible for ‘murdering civilians’

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) moved to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, accusing him on Tuesday of being responsible for the deaths and injuries of more than 200 civilians during the war in Iran

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The Kentucky Republican read his impeachment resolution on the House floor, where he accused Hegseth of shredding safeguards intended to protect civilians during U.S. military operations.

“Secretary Hegseth thereby effectually effected the murder of civilians and abused the trust of men and women under his command by requiring them to conduct military operations within a targeted and legal review system that he had deliberately degraded,” Massie said.

Massie said Hegseth directed the Defense Department “in a manner that resulted in the death or injury of more than 200 civilians” at the Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School in Minab, Iran.

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He also targeted Hegseth for cultivating “a war-making culture at the Department of Defense, which he boasts as being dismissive of ‘stupid rules of engagement,’ with preference for ‘maximum lethality, not tepid legality.’”

That combination, Massie added, “chilled and rendered ineffective” parts of the Defense Department responsible for “preventing, mitigating and responding to civilian harm.”

“This undermined the integrity and diplomacy of the United States and its armed forces,” Massie concluded Tuesday. “He thus ignored and injured the interests of the nation.”

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