Pentagon insiders hide a Hegseth dossier in a gun safe and bank vault, hoping Democrats will impeach him

Defense Department officials have spent nearly two years secretly compiling emails, memos and meeting notes documenting what they describe as Pete Hegseth's most damaging decisions, stashing copies in three separate hiding spots to prevent discovery. The files reportedly detail how Hegseth and his inner circle dismissed strategic and legal advice, browbeat experts, withheld information from Congress, and threatened subordinates he viewed as disloyal, woke, or insufficiently loyal.

One longtime Army officer keeps his copies in his daughter's old high school binder, double-locked inside a basement gun safe in Northern Virginia.

The officials have agreed that those nearing retirement handle all off-the-books meetings, shielding younger colleagues who still have their careers in front of them.