Scoop: Fact Checking Elizabeth Warren's attacks on Pete Hegseth: "Does a former Harvard Law Professor not understand the First Amendment?"

Sen. Elizabeth Warren's attacks on Pete Hegseth are backfiring.

A letter Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) wrote to dissuade members from supporting Pete Hegseth is having the opposite effect, multiple sources have told the Washington Reporter.

In the letter, Warren attacked Hegseth for his stated desire to remove diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) from the military, to hold the military and civilian leaders responsible for the Afghanistan withdrawal debacle accountable, and more. Most of Warren’s criticisms have emboldened Hegseth’s supporters.

One of Warren’s criticisms is that Hegseth has a “Deus Vult” tattoo, which led to his removal “from President Biden’s inauguration because of concerns that you were an insider threat,” she wrote. The Latin translates to “God wills it.”

“Elizabeth Warren is so desperate to smear Pete Hegseth that she's claiming being a proud Christian means you are an extremist,” Alex Pfeiffer, a spokesman for the Trump transition said. “Why is a Senator attacking religious expression? Does a former Harvard Law Professor not understand the First Amendment?”

Warren also demanded that Hegseth answer whether he “plan to recommend or support purging or demanding the resignation of generals who were part of the Afghanistan withdrawal?” To many, this is a concession from Warren that she doesn’t want much accountability at all.

Jerry Dunleavy, the author of Kabul: The Untold Story of Biden’s Fiasco and the American Warriors Who Fought to the End, said that “Warren wants to let DoD civilian leadership & the military brass & generals off the hook for their share of responsibility for the disastrous & deadly withdrawal & evac from Afghanistan. Hegseth wants accountability. Warren is wrong. Hegseth is right.”