PETE HEGSETH: WE WOULD NEVER HAVE COVERED UP THE DEATH OF AMERICAN SOLDIERS IN COMBAT Secretary of War Pete Hegseth criticized The Washington Post for publishing a "#fake article" claiming that the Pentagon is hiding data on the deaths of American soldiers in the war in #Iran. I said what I said: they hate the president more than they love the country! We would never, even if we wanted to hide deaths in combat , we would never do it, and we would never be able to.