WEBVTT - Punaro Group CEO/Founder Maj Gen Arnold Punaro Talks Senate Confirmation Hearing

0:00:02.320 --> 0:00:06.680
<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.

0:00:06.840 --> 0:00:09.240
<v Speaker 2>Meanwhile, here in Washington, a lot of attention is fixed

0:00:09.240 --> 0:00:12.080
<v Speaker 2>on what's taking place in the Senate today, or more

0:00:12.080 --> 0:00:14.600
<v Speaker 2>specifically the Dirks and Senate Office Building, where the Senate

0:00:14.680 --> 0:00:18.479
<v Speaker 2>Armed Services Committee is currently and still underway, holding the

0:00:18.480 --> 0:00:22.520
<v Speaker 2>confirmation hearing for the Defense Secretary designate Pete Hegseth, who,

0:00:22.520 --> 0:00:25.320
<v Speaker 2>of course has been tapped by President elect Donald Trump

0:00:25.360 --> 0:00:28.640
<v Speaker 2>to lead the Pentagon, an organization with more than three

0:00:28.680 --> 0:00:31.760
<v Speaker 2>million people reporting up and through it, and it's been

0:00:31.800 --> 0:00:35.080
<v Speaker 2>a little contentious at times, perhaps no surprise. He's faced

0:00:35.200 --> 0:00:38.200
<v Speaker 2>very difficult questions from Democrats in regard to a number

0:00:38.280 --> 0:00:40.960
<v Speaker 2>of issues. But he also began the hearing by pleading

0:00:41.000 --> 0:00:42.960
<v Speaker 2>his own case. Here's part of his opening statement.

0:00:44.360 --> 0:00:46.120
<v Speaker 3>Now, it is true and has been acknowledged, that I

0:00:46.120 --> 0:00:48.960
<v Speaker 3>don't have a similar biography to defense secretaries of the

0:00:49.040 --> 0:00:52.760
<v Speaker 3>last thirty years. But as President Trump also told me,

0:00:52.880 --> 0:00:56.680
<v Speaker 3>we've repeatedly placed people atop the Pentagon with supposedly the

0:00:56.760 --> 0:01:01.280
<v Speaker 3>right credentials, whether they are retire generals, academics, or defense

0:01:01.320 --> 0:01:07.000
<v Speaker 3>contractor executives. And where has it gotten us, he believes,

0:01:07.040 --> 0:01:10.160
<v Speaker 3>and I humbly agree that it's time to give someone

0:01:10.200 --> 0:01:13.959
<v Speaker 3>with dust on his boots the helm, a change agent,

0:01:14.280 --> 0:01:18.039
<v Speaker 3>someone with no vested interest in certain companies or specific

0:01:18.080 --> 0:01:24.800
<v Speaker 3>programs or approved narratives. My only special interest is the warfighter,

0:01:26.800 --> 0:01:30.039
<v Speaker 3>deterring wars and if called upon, winning wars. By ensuring

0:01:30.080 --> 0:01:34.200
<v Speaker 3>our warriors never enter a fair fight, we let them

0:01:34.240 --> 0:01:38.840
<v Speaker 3>win and we bring them home. Like many of my generation,

0:01:39.160 --> 0:01:42.240
<v Speaker 3>I've been there. I've led troops in combat. I've been

0:01:42.280 --> 0:01:45.399
<v Speaker 3>on patrol for days. I've pulled a trigger down range,

0:01:45.760 --> 0:01:50.520
<v Speaker 3>heard bullets whiz by, flexcuffed insurgents, called in close air support,

0:01:50.600 --> 0:01:57.160
<v Speaker 3>led metavacs, dodged IEDs, pulled out dead bodies, and knelt

0:01:57.160 --> 0:02:02.440
<v Speaker 3>before a battlefield cross. This is not academic for me.

0:02:03.600 --> 0:02:08.560
<v Speaker 3>This is my life. I led then and I will

0:02:08.639 --> 0:02:09.360
<v Speaker 3>lead now.

0:02:11.680 --> 0:02:15.079
<v Speaker 1>Pete Hegseth, speaking before the Senate Armed Services Committee in

0:02:15.120 --> 0:02:18.320
<v Speaker 1>prepared remarks. That's how it started, not only trying to

0:02:18.360 --> 0:02:21.959
<v Speaker 1>make the case for his nomination and confirmation, of course,

0:02:22.000 --> 0:02:23.360
<v Speaker 1>but also trying to get ahead of some of the

0:02:23.360 --> 0:02:25.280
<v Speaker 1>more difficult questions that he might be asked. And he's

0:02:25.320 --> 0:02:27.600
<v Speaker 1>been asked all of them, and we've got more to go.

0:02:27.680 --> 0:02:30.320
<v Speaker 1>Here joining us a voice of experience who spent a

0:02:30.320 --> 0:02:33.320
<v Speaker 1>lot of time with this committee and in rooms like these.

0:02:33.880 --> 0:02:36.960
<v Speaker 1>Retired Marine Corps Major General Arnold Prenur, a former staff

0:02:36.960 --> 0:02:39.560
<v Speaker 1>director of the Senate Armed Services Committee, the author of

0:02:39.639 --> 0:02:42.720
<v Speaker 1>if Confirmed, An Insider's view of the Senate confirmation process.

0:02:42.720 --> 0:02:45.359
<v Speaker 1>What a perfect voice for today. General has spent some time,

0:02:45.400 --> 0:02:47.919
<v Speaker 1>and we welcome you back to Bloomberg TV and Radio.

0:02:48.400 --> 0:02:50.200
<v Speaker 1>As I mentioned, you've been in this room before. How's

0:02:50.240 --> 0:02:50.760
<v Speaker 1>he doing.

0:02:52.280 --> 0:02:52.400
<v Speaker 4>Well?

0:02:52.440 --> 0:02:54.960
<v Speaker 5>I think he's doing extremely well. I was very impressed

0:02:55.000 --> 0:02:58.760
<v Speaker 5>with this opening statement. As you mentioned, I've been involved

0:02:58.760 --> 0:03:01.880
<v Speaker 5>in the confirmation process for over twelve Secretary of Defense,

0:03:01.919 --> 0:03:04.079
<v Speaker 5>going all the way back to the Ford administration, both

0:03:04.120 --> 0:03:06.680
<v Speaker 5>when I was on the committee, the staff director of

0:03:06.680 --> 0:03:08.680
<v Speaker 5>the committee and then helping various.

0:03:08.320 --> 0:03:10.680
<v Speaker 4>Nominees since leaving government.

0:03:10.440 --> 0:03:13.240
<v Speaker 5>On a pro bono basis, and so most of our

0:03:13.280 --> 0:03:17.120
<v Speaker 5>secretaries of Defense get faced tough questionings. But he certainly

0:03:17.280 --> 0:03:20.160
<v Speaker 5>had a very strong opening statement. I've reviewed all of

0:03:20.200 --> 0:03:24.200
<v Speaker 5>his advanced policy questions. I've listened very carefully to the hearing,

0:03:24.440 --> 0:03:26.080
<v Speaker 5>and he's doing exceedingly.

0:03:25.639 --> 0:03:30.040
<v Speaker 2>Well in my judgment, well and for many of the

0:03:30.120 --> 0:03:32.880
<v Speaker 2>questions he is facing, at least the ones posed by Democrats,

0:03:32.919 --> 0:03:34.800
<v Speaker 2>he's kind of doing so for the first time, as

0:03:34.920 --> 0:03:38.640
<v Speaker 2>multiple Democratic Senators have pointed out, Sir that Hegseth declined

0:03:38.640 --> 0:03:40.560
<v Speaker 2>to meet with them in advance of this hearing, even

0:03:40.560 --> 0:03:43.280
<v Speaker 2>though he was taking meetings with essentially all of the

0:03:43.320 --> 0:03:46.160
<v Speaker 2>Republicans on this committee. Do you think that that was

0:03:46.200 --> 0:03:48.680
<v Speaker 2>a mistake or was it unnecessary in this case when

0:03:48.680 --> 0:03:50.880
<v Speaker 2>he wasn't likely to be able to rely on Democratic

0:03:50.960 --> 0:03:51.560
<v Speaker 2>votes anyway.

0:03:53.280 --> 0:03:56.720
<v Speaker 5>Well, typically the tradition is that nominees, and not just

0:03:56.760 --> 0:03:59.120
<v Speaker 5>for the Secretary of Defense, all out offense nominees, and

0:03:59.160 --> 0:04:01.600
<v Speaker 5>of which there are six in the Department of the Fence.

0:04:01.680 --> 0:04:03.920
<v Speaker 5>So he's going to have a very strong team with

0:04:04.040 --> 0:04:06.480
<v Speaker 5>him if he's confirmed, and I believe he will be confirmed,

0:04:08.080 --> 0:04:11.240
<v Speaker 5>And typically they trying to meet with everybody, but everybody's scheduled.

0:04:11.280 --> 0:04:14.800
<v Speaker 5>I don't have any inside information other than what I

0:04:14.960 --> 0:04:18.599
<v Speaker 5>just turned into hearing today. I know nominees trying to

0:04:18.600 --> 0:04:21.040
<v Speaker 5>meet with everybody. I know for a fact that a

0:04:21.160 --> 0:04:24.480
<v Speaker 5>number of the other nominees, the Secretary of the Navy,

0:04:25.240 --> 0:04:28.080
<v Speaker 5>the Secretary of the Army nominee, they're meeting with both

0:04:28.080 --> 0:04:30.320
<v Speaker 5>sides of the isle. So I don't know what really

0:04:30.400 --> 0:04:33.440
<v Speaker 5>happened here. It's unfortunate if he didn't have a chance

0:04:33.480 --> 0:04:36.039
<v Speaker 5>to meet with some of them. But on the other hand,

0:04:36.880 --> 0:04:40.280
<v Speaker 5>it's not unusual that schedules don't match up.

0:04:41.480 --> 0:04:43.000
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, they do all seem to be going out of

0:04:43.000 --> 0:04:44.760
<v Speaker 1>their way to say the same thing on that front.

0:04:44.760 --> 0:04:47.119
<v Speaker 1>But general, we'd love for you to bring us behind

0:04:47.160 --> 0:04:49.520
<v Speaker 1>the scenes a bit and into the process. We hear

0:04:49.560 --> 0:04:52.599
<v Speaker 1>a lot about mock hearings and murder boards. What goes

0:04:52.640 --> 0:04:55.839
<v Speaker 1>into preparing someone like Pete Hegseth for a moment like this.

0:04:55.960 --> 0:04:58.599
<v Speaker 1>How much time do you spend with him? How ugly

0:04:58.640 --> 0:05:00.719
<v Speaker 1>does it get when you start looking at their record

0:05:00.760 --> 0:05:02.440
<v Speaker 1>and try to give them a sense of the tough

0:05:02.520 --> 0:05:03.360
<v Speaker 1>questions they're going to get.

0:05:04.760 --> 0:05:07.240
<v Speaker 5>Well, you know, I go back and most of the

0:05:07.279 --> 0:05:09.440
<v Speaker 5>sect deeps that I've been involved with, going all the

0:05:09.440 --> 0:05:13.440
<v Speaker 5>way back to Harrold Brown in the cart administration, Cat Weinberger,

0:05:13.520 --> 0:05:18.080
<v Speaker 5>Don rbsfell Less Aspen all got tough questions. So there's

0:05:18.120 --> 0:05:19.479
<v Speaker 5>nothing unusual about that.

0:05:19.680 --> 0:05:20.200
<v Speaker 4>Number two.

0:05:20.839 --> 0:05:23.800
<v Speaker 5>He does take a tremendous amount of preparation. Some of

0:05:23.800 --> 0:05:26.520
<v Speaker 5>the previous secretaries of the Fence that didn't prepare well

0:05:26.600 --> 0:05:29.839
<v Speaker 5>did not do well in their confirmation hearing and frankly,

0:05:30.160 --> 0:05:32.480
<v Speaker 5>they suffered from that when they became even though they

0:05:32.520 --> 0:05:36.520
<v Speaker 5>got confirmed, you know, they did not have a good

0:05:36.520 --> 0:05:39.880
<v Speaker 5>impression in the confirmation hearing. So I would assume, and

0:05:40.000 --> 0:05:43.039
<v Speaker 5>I can tell from just the way he's answering the questions.

0:05:43.080 --> 0:05:47.040
<v Speaker 5>I can tell from all the material supporting material that's

0:05:47.080 --> 0:05:49.760
<v Speaker 5>been provided to the committee. I can tell by reading

0:05:49.760 --> 0:05:53.279
<v Speaker 5>his extensive advanced policy questions. They have done a tremendous

0:05:53.279 --> 0:05:55.400
<v Speaker 5>amount of preparation to get him ready for this hearing.

0:05:55.560 --> 0:05:57.280
<v Speaker 4>But that's appropriate. You need to do that.

0:05:57.720 --> 0:05:59.760
<v Speaker 5>As some people have said, to the fists, Apartments of

0:05:59.839 --> 0:06:01.920
<v Speaker 5>Law just most complex organization in.

0:06:01.880 --> 0:06:04.000
<v Speaker 4>The world, and it's all about war fighting.

0:06:04.040 --> 0:06:07.440
<v Speaker 5>And so I would think that obviously they spend a

0:06:07.480 --> 0:06:10.680
<v Speaker 5>tremendous amount of time with him getting him ready, and

0:06:11.040 --> 0:06:12.480
<v Speaker 5>it shows he's doing a good job.

0:06:14.320 --> 0:06:16.760
<v Speaker 2>So you think general that he's doing a good job

0:06:16.800 --> 0:06:19.480
<v Speaker 2>and arguing that he is in fact qualified to do

0:06:19.800 --> 0:06:21.920
<v Speaker 2>this job, even though he, as has been raised in

0:06:21.960 --> 0:06:24.719
<v Speaker 2>the hearing, he hasn't managed an organization bigger than hundreds

0:06:24.760 --> 0:06:27.840
<v Speaker 2>of people, let alone millions, that he actually hasn't led

0:06:27.920 --> 0:06:30.920
<v Speaker 2>an organizational audit, let alone one that could number in

0:06:30.960 --> 0:06:33.040
<v Speaker 2>the hundreds of billions. Of dollars. I mean, is your

0:06:33.080 --> 0:06:36.480
<v Speaker 2>takeaway from this hearing that Pete Hegseth is firmly qualified

0:06:36.520 --> 0:06:37.279
<v Speaker 2>for this position.

0:06:39.320 --> 0:06:42.159
<v Speaker 5>He's qualified in terms of the things that the Secretary

0:06:42.160 --> 0:06:44.480
<v Speaker 5>of Defense is involved in, and they are in Title ten.

0:06:44.680 --> 0:06:47.480
<v Speaker 5>Somebody's brought up one are the requirements, the air requirements

0:06:47.480 --> 0:06:50.280
<v Speaker 5>in Title ten, the US Code that creates the Department

0:06:50.320 --> 0:06:52.520
<v Speaker 5>of Defense and the Secretary of Defense. And he's he

0:06:52.640 --> 0:06:55.159
<v Speaker 5>brought out the three things that I think are most important.

0:06:55.200 --> 0:06:58.480
<v Speaker 5>He's focused on improving the terrems because those of.

0:06:58.440 --> 0:07:00.799
<v Speaker 4>Us that have been in combat like him, like myself

0:07:00.800 --> 0:07:03.000
<v Speaker 4>and others. I've been wounded in combat and been to

0:07:03.040 --> 0:07:04.840
<v Speaker 4>more than one more. You want to deter wards. You

0:07:04.880 --> 0:07:07.080
<v Speaker 4>don't want to have to engage your wars, and you

0:07:07.080 --> 0:07:07.880
<v Speaker 4>want to focus on.

0:07:07.839 --> 0:07:10.960
<v Speaker 5>War fighting and lethality. That's the role of the Secretary

0:07:10.960 --> 0:07:13.920
<v Speaker 5>of Defense. He's going to have their sixty five confirmed people.

0:07:14.280 --> 0:07:16.920
<v Speaker 5>They've already named a very strong team to be in

0:07:16.960 --> 0:07:19.720
<v Speaker 5>there with him. John Falon to be Secretary of the Navy.

0:07:19.840 --> 0:07:22.800
<v Speaker 5>Dan Driscol to be Secretary of the Army. Brince Kobe

0:07:22.840 --> 0:07:26.520
<v Speaker 5>a real expert on policy, Mike Duffy a very tremendous

0:07:26.560 --> 0:07:30.960
<v Speaker 5>expert in the acquisition area, and the deputy Feinberg a

0:07:31.080 --> 0:07:34.800
<v Speaker 5>very very successful businessman, and the number two person is

0:07:34.840 --> 0:07:38.120
<v Speaker 5>the chief operating officer. So the notion that somehow the

0:07:38.160 --> 0:07:40.760
<v Speaker 5>Secretary of Defense is got to run the Pentagon all

0:07:40.800 --> 0:07:41.400
<v Speaker 5>by themselves.

0:07:41.440 --> 0:07:44.000
<v Speaker 4>And plus you've got the service chiefs, you got the

0:07:44.080 --> 0:07:46.440
<v Speaker 4>Joint chiefs, you got the war fighting combat and commander.

0:07:46.520 --> 0:07:49.760
<v Speaker 5>So in my judgment, it takes that kind of a team,

0:07:50.280 --> 0:07:52.760
<v Speaker 5>and the names that I've seen so far, because I

0:07:52.800 --> 0:07:55.400
<v Speaker 5>know most of them have worked with them over the years,

0:07:55.640 --> 0:07:58.480
<v Speaker 5>very experienced, is going to be a very strong team.

0:07:58.920 --> 0:07:59.200
<v Speaker 4>General.

0:07:59.240 --> 0:08:01.480
<v Speaker 1>We all remember John Tower in nineteen eighty nine. I

0:08:01.520 --> 0:08:03.560
<v Speaker 1>don't know if you have any personal anecdotes from that

0:08:03.600 --> 0:08:06.640
<v Speaker 1>experience or any firsthand stories, but can you speak to

0:08:06.680 --> 0:08:09.200
<v Speaker 1>our audience about how rare it would be for a

0:08:09.240 --> 0:08:11.520
<v Speaker 1>nominee like this to go down in a vote and

0:08:11.560 --> 0:08:12.640
<v Speaker 1>committee or on the floor.

0:08:13.760 --> 0:08:17.400
<v Speaker 5>Well, in history, the only one that has not been

0:08:17.440 --> 0:08:21.080
<v Speaker 5>approved was John Tower, and that was a very sad day.

0:08:21.120 --> 0:08:23.640
<v Speaker 4>He was a great chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

0:08:23.800 --> 0:08:25.360
<v Speaker 4>The full expectation was that.

0:08:25.320 --> 0:08:27.240
<v Speaker 5>He would be confirmed, but there were issues that came

0:08:27.360 --> 0:08:31.360
<v Speaker 5>up during the confirmation process, particularly as it relates to.

0:08:31.760 --> 0:08:33.079
<v Speaker 4>The FBI re court that.

0:08:35.320 --> 0:08:38.240
<v Speaker 5>Him not being approved, But the Committee and the Congress

0:08:38.280 --> 0:08:41.160
<v Speaker 5>turned around and the Senate very quickly and put Dick

0:08:41.240 --> 0:08:46.480
<v Speaker 5>Cheney in very quickly after John Tower's nomination was not approved.

0:08:46.520 --> 0:08:50.079
<v Speaker 5>And so I think, frankly, the Senate deserves to give

0:08:50.080 --> 0:08:52.360
<v Speaker 5>Pete headsp an up or down vote on day one.

0:08:52.520 --> 0:08:54.920
<v Speaker 5>He's the only other civilian in the war fighting chain

0:08:54.920 --> 0:08:56.880
<v Speaker 5>to come in from the Commander in chief to the

0:08:56.880 --> 0:09:00.640
<v Speaker 5>combatant commands. We need a Secretary of Defense on there

0:09:00.720 --> 0:09:03.640
<v Speaker 5>on day one, and he should get an upper down vote,

0:09:03.640 --> 0:09:05.880
<v Speaker 5>which has been the president for secretaries of the Defense,

0:09:06.160 --> 0:09:08.160
<v Speaker 5>and people that want to vote for him can vote

0:09:08.200 --> 0:09:08.480
<v Speaker 5>for him.

0:09:08.520 --> 0:09:10.760
<v Speaker 4>People that want to vote a gist him vote against him.

0:09:11.040 --> 0:09:13.240
<v Speaker 5>And you know, a majority vote rules, and if he

0:09:13.280 --> 0:09:15.880
<v Speaker 5>gets a majority vote then he will be eligible to

0:09:15.880 --> 0:09:18.920
<v Speaker 5>be sworn in and appointed day one. But he deserves

0:09:18.960 --> 0:09:21.719
<v Speaker 5>an upper down vote on January twentieth. That's been the

0:09:22.080 --> 0:09:24.880
<v Speaker 5>plan and the president going all the way back to

0:09:24.920 --> 0:09:28.839
<v Speaker 5>Democrat Republican presidents that on a new president that has

0:09:28.880 --> 0:09:31.760
<v Speaker 5>a new Secretary of Defense gets an upper down vote

0:09:31.800 --> 0:09:32.920
<v Speaker 5>on day one, and I hope.

0:09:32.720 --> 0:09:33.640
<v Speaker 4>That will be the case.

0:09:35.280 --> 0:09:38.480
<v Speaker 2>Well, and assuming he is confirmed ultimately to lead this position.

0:09:38.559 --> 0:09:41.600
<v Speaker 2>Talk if you will, general about what exactly he's going

0:09:41.640 --> 0:09:43.679
<v Speaker 2>to inherit If we've heard in this hearing a lot

0:09:43.720 --> 0:09:46.280
<v Speaker 2>of kind of bureaucratical challenges, if you will, about the

0:09:46.280 --> 0:09:50.080
<v Speaker 2>acquisition process, about an audit for the DoD. But then

0:09:50.080 --> 0:09:52.920
<v Speaker 2>there's also the very real challenges in multiple theaters around

0:09:52.920 --> 0:09:55.080
<v Speaker 2>the world where there are live conflicts or the threat

0:09:55.440 --> 0:09:57.719
<v Speaker 2>of conflicts. How is he going to be able to

0:09:57.840 --> 0:10:00.559
<v Speaker 2>navigate both those internal and external questions.

0:10:01.640 --> 0:10:04.160
<v Speaker 5>Look, he's inheriting the same challenges as the last two

0:10:04.240 --> 0:10:06.040
<v Speaker 5>or three presidents of HAAD. We live in a world

0:10:06.080 --> 0:10:08.200
<v Speaker 5>that's more dangerous and unstable than the peak of the

0:10:08.240 --> 0:10:12.240
<v Speaker 5>Cold War. We don't have the right strategy for dealing

0:10:12.280 --> 0:10:15.680
<v Speaker 5>with the threats that we face from Russia to China, Iran,

0:10:15.840 --> 0:10:18.800
<v Speaker 5>North Korea in global terrorism. We need to get back

0:10:18.800 --> 0:10:21.440
<v Speaker 5>to basically being able to deter and if the Turrets

0:10:21.480 --> 0:10:24.000
<v Speaker 5>fails to fight and win two major theater wards on

0:10:24.040 --> 0:10:26.960
<v Speaker 5>a near simultaneous fasis, we're not getting the bang for

0:10:27.000 --> 0:10:28.800
<v Speaker 5>the buck we should for the dollars we spend in

0:10:28.840 --> 0:10:31.600
<v Speaker 5>the Pentagon in constant dollars, and we're spending more than

0:10:31.640 --> 0:10:33.360
<v Speaker 5>the peak of the Reagan build up.

0:10:33.320 --> 0:10:35.000
<v Speaker 4>And the forts and fifty percent smaller.

0:10:35.280 --> 0:10:37.120
<v Speaker 5>One of the things he brought out today is we

0:10:37.160 --> 0:10:38.640
<v Speaker 5>need to get people, you know.

0:10:38.640 --> 0:10:39.839
<v Speaker 4>Into the combat arms.

0:10:39.880 --> 0:10:43.160
<v Speaker 5>And we have over three hundred thousand active duty military

0:10:43.520 --> 0:10:46.320
<v Speaker 5>serving in inherently non governmental jobs are serving in the

0:10:46.360 --> 0:10:49.440
<v Speaker 5>rear with the gear. The overhead in the Pentagon is massive.

0:10:50.440 --> 0:10:54.960
<v Speaker 5>The requirements process needs performed, the acquisition process needs performed.

0:10:55.200 --> 0:10:57.680
<v Speaker 5>We spend over four hundred and twenty billion dollars a

0:10:57.760 --> 0:11:01.080
<v Speaker 5>year in the Pentagon on goods and services, supplies and equipment,

0:11:01.080 --> 0:11:02.920
<v Speaker 5>and about the only thing you can say about that

0:11:03.040 --> 0:11:05.440
<v Speaker 5>out but has been more, take longer, get less.

0:11:05.480 --> 0:11:06.920
<v Speaker 4>And these problems are well known.

0:11:07.200 --> 0:11:09.000
<v Speaker 5>He's going to with his team going to have to

0:11:09.040 --> 0:11:10.960
<v Speaker 5>tackle every single one of these. If you want to

0:11:11.200 --> 0:11:14.199
<v Speaker 5>improve the turrens, the turrens is really important. You need

0:11:14.240 --> 0:11:17.160
<v Speaker 5>to have the military capability. It has to be credible

0:11:17.360 --> 0:11:19.360
<v Speaker 5>and your adversaries have to believe that you're going.

0:11:19.280 --> 0:11:19.680
<v Speaker 4>To use it.

0:11:19.760 --> 0:11:23.520
<v Speaker 5>So he's going to inherit some significant challenges in all

0:11:23.559 --> 0:11:24.360
<v Speaker 5>of these areas.

0:11:25.760 --> 0:11:28.040
<v Speaker 1>We're spending some time on Bloomberg TV and Radio with

0:11:28.040 --> 0:11:30.840
<v Speaker 1>retired Marine Corps General Arnold Pernaro, who literally wrote the

0:11:30.840 --> 0:11:33.440
<v Speaker 1>book on Senate Confirmations. General, I want to ask you

0:11:33.840 --> 0:11:37.640
<v Speaker 1>about some criticism that we've heard from Democratic members of

0:11:37.640 --> 0:11:41.040
<v Speaker 1>the committee about the FBI background check into Pete Hegseth.

0:11:41.040 --> 0:11:43.480
<v Speaker 1>There are multiple reports here that the FBI did not

0:11:43.640 --> 0:11:47.400
<v Speaker 1>interview Hegseeth's ex wives or the woman who actually accused

0:11:47.480 --> 0:11:50.079
<v Speaker 1>him of sexual assaults in twenty seventeen.

0:11:50.480 --> 0:11:51.600
<v Speaker 4>How unusual is that?

0:11:51.640 --> 0:11:54.720
<v Speaker 1>Would that have been writing on a request from a

0:11:54.880 --> 0:11:58.480
<v Speaker 1>committee leadership to look into that and interview those women,

0:11:58.880 --> 0:12:01.760
<v Speaker 1>or is this a problem for the FBI to have

0:12:01.800 --> 0:12:03.440
<v Speaker 1>not been as comprehensive as it should be.

0:12:04.600 --> 0:12:07.520
<v Speaker 5>First of all, I want to applaud the new leadership

0:12:07.520 --> 0:12:09.560
<v Speaker 5>in the Senate, the Leader Thun and others.

0:12:09.600 --> 0:12:10.720
<v Speaker 4>It says, look, we're going.

0:12:10.679 --> 0:12:14.600
<v Speaker 5>To require the same kind of FBI fulfilled investigations for

0:12:14.679 --> 0:12:18.240
<v Speaker 5>the Trump nominees that has been required in every single

0:12:18.280 --> 0:12:23.080
<v Speaker 5>previous president Democratic, Republican. And so that request doesn't come

0:12:23.080 --> 0:12:25.520
<v Speaker 5>from the committees, it doesn't come from the Senate. It

0:12:25.600 --> 0:12:28.760
<v Speaker 5>comes from the White House Council's office, in this case,

0:12:28.840 --> 0:12:31.640
<v Speaker 5>the Transition Council, because their White House Council for Trump

0:12:31.679 --> 0:12:34.120
<v Speaker 5>has not been set up till January twentieth, and so

0:12:34.240 --> 0:12:36.640
<v Speaker 5>they have the FBI go out and do what's called

0:12:36.640 --> 0:12:40.440
<v Speaker 5>a full filled investigation of potential nominees, and then that

0:12:40.640 --> 0:12:43.800
<v Speaker 5>material is provided to the chairman and ranking member on

0:12:43.840 --> 0:12:46.000
<v Speaker 5>the Center of Armed Services Committee, and it's at the

0:12:46.080 --> 0:12:48.720
<v Speaker 5>chairman's discretion, as it was when my boss was chairman

0:12:48.760 --> 0:12:51.760
<v Speaker 5>for eight years, as to who else might get access

0:12:51.800 --> 0:12:54.280
<v Speaker 5>to that. One of the things you have to understand,

0:12:54.720 --> 0:12:57.480
<v Speaker 5>it's not like an Inspector General report. It's not like

0:12:57.600 --> 0:13:00.520
<v Speaker 5>a Article thirty two in the military, where there's an

0:13:00.600 --> 0:13:04.280
<v Speaker 5>investigation their findings and their recommendations and they come to

0:13:04.320 --> 0:13:06.160
<v Speaker 5>a conclusion and they say.

0:13:06.000 --> 0:13:08.160
<v Speaker 4>Well, this person is right and this person's law.

0:13:08.600 --> 0:13:12.520
<v Speaker 5>It's just raw investigatory files and they can be very misleading,

0:13:12.559 --> 0:13:15.760
<v Speaker 5>and so the FBI reports have to be treated with

0:13:15.960 --> 0:13:19.840
<v Speaker 5>great deference in terms of what they can then used for.

0:13:20.040 --> 0:13:22.840
<v Speaker 5>One of the things that I felt and people know

0:13:23.000 --> 0:13:25.560
<v Speaker 5>that was very unfair in the Power thing is that

0:13:25.559 --> 0:13:27.480
<v Speaker 5>there were a lot of things that got leaked out

0:13:27.480 --> 0:13:30.559
<v Speaker 5>of the FBI report that weren't corroborated, and it was

0:13:30.679 --> 0:13:35.280
<v Speaker 5>very damaging. And so I think the approach that Chairman

0:13:35.360 --> 0:13:38.520
<v Speaker 5>Wicker is taking in terms of restricting the FBI report

0:13:38.640 --> 0:13:41.520
<v Speaker 5>is appropriate in terms of what's in it, None of

0:13:41.640 --> 0:13:43.280
<v Speaker 5>us are ever going to know because it's not going

0:13:43.320 --> 0:13:46.560
<v Speaker 5>to be made available publicly, and certainly you have to

0:13:46.600 --> 0:13:50.199
<v Speaker 5>rely on the investigatory skills of the FBI that they

0:13:50.240 --> 0:13:54.160
<v Speaker 5>did a thorough investigation. And so typically what happens is

0:13:54.600 --> 0:13:59.040
<v Speaker 5>if the Council believes there's disqualifying information in an FBI

0:13:59.320 --> 0:14:02.920
<v Speaker 5>fulfilling instigation, they'll notify the President and the President will

0:14:03.000 --> 0:14:04.319
<v Speaker 5>have to decide whether he still.

0:14:04.160 --> 0:14:05.160
<v Speaker 4>Wants to go forward or not.

0:14:05.640 --> 0:14:08.200
<v Speaker 5>The fact that the report was provided to the chairman

0:14:08.320 --> 0:14:12.400
<v Speaker 5>ranking member, the fact that that things are going forward,

0:14:12.880 --> 0:14:15.360
<v Speaker 5>I just I don't have firsthand knowledge. I certainly don't

0:14:15.360 --> 0:14:18.160
<v Speaker 5>have access to it. I don't have any leaked information.

0:14:18.679 --> 0:14:21.440
<v Speaker 5>My work and assumption would be there's nothing in that

0:14:21.520 --> 0:14:27.400
<v Speaker 5>report that's disqualifying, and because the proceedings are going forward, all.

0:14:27.360 --> 0:14:29.400
<v Speaker 2>Right, General, thank you so much for joining us on

0:14:29.480 --> 0:14:32.560
<v Speaker 2>balance of Power today. That's retired Marine Corps General Ernold Panaro,

0:14:32.760 --> 0:14:35.320
<v Speaker 2>who is Joe mentioned. Is also the author of if Confirmed,

0:14:35.320 --> 0:14:38.360
<v Speaker 2>An Insider's view of the Senate confirmation process.