Pentagon denies that Hegseth’s broker sought investment before Iran war
Al Jazeera • • nation
Key Points:
- The US Department of Defense demanded the immediate retraction of a Financial Times report alleging that defence chief Pete Hegseth’s broker attempted a large investment in weapons companies before the war on Iran, calling the claim "entirely false and fabricated."
- Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell stated that neither Hegseth nor his representatives approached BlackRock about such an investment and condemned the report as a baseless smear aimed at misleading the public.
- The Financial Times reported that Hegseth’s broker at Morgan Stanley did not proceed with the multimillion-dollar investment in a defense-related fund because it was not yet available for purchase, citing unnamed sources.
- The report surfaced amid broader scrutiny of suspiciously timed trades in financial markets linked to insider knowledge of US war plans, although the defense chief would not have profited from the fund since the war began, as its value declined after US and Israeli strikes on Iran.
- Neither the Defense Department, Financial Times, Morgan Stanley, nor BlackRock provided further comments, and Al Jazeera could not independently verify the Financial Times report.
