Nebraska Congressman Don Bacon was the first and so far the only GOP lawmaker to say he would not stand for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth's reported use of non-government channels to share classified information.
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KMTV reporter Hannah McIlree asked the congressman, a former brigadier general, how he would handle the situation.
“Well, I wish success for this administration. I'm a conservative Republican. I wish success for our DOD, but I served 30 years in the Air Force and you don't release details of missions two hours before the attack and put all these details of this mission on an unclassified phone application and send it to people who are not cleared,” Bacon said.
He said he is speaking out because he wants to see Hegseth take responsibility for what he considers a mistake.
“He keeps digging a hole, saying there's nothing wrong, I didn't do anything. He blames the reporters, saying it's leaked information from people who are upset. No, I read the transcripts, right? I just want accountability,” Bacon said.
On Tuesday, a group of Omahans went to Bacon's office to show their support.
“He can be the John McCain of his generation and truly take the first step to save America,” said Linda Jensen.
Jensen added that the group wanted to thank him for being the first Republican to speak out.
“We’ve all known all along he was never qualified for that job. He just simply wasn't qualified, and he's shown that over and over again by putting our country in danger in signal chats,” Jensen said.
Bacon continued, saying that unauthorized chats could put the lives of American troops at risk.
“We know that when people put the wrong things on social media or whatever, the other intelligence agencies are looking at it, and people get killed. We saw this in Iraq. We see it in Afghanistan. The Russians monitor our stuff; we monitor their stuff. You just have to know that you need to protect operational details of a future mission. This case was within two hours, and the Russians and Chinese, I guarantee you, they were there trying to get that now,” Bacon said.
Senator Pete Ricketts also spoke to KMTV about the issue.
"Secretary Hegseth works for President Trump. President Trump needs to address that with Secretary Hegseth with regard to how he wants to handle it. And you know, just like any executive, you've got to hold your people accountable," said Ricketts.
Neighbors gathered outside of Bacon's office and are calling for Hegseth to resign.
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