US Division of Protection calls for retraction of report alleging dealer sought multimillion-dollar funding for Hegseth.
Revealed On 31 Mar 2026
The US Division of Protection has demanded the retraction of a newspaper report alleging {that a} dealer for defence chief Pete Hegseth tried to make a big funding in weapons firms within the run-up to the warfare on Iran.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell demanded the “rapid” retraction on Monday after The Monetary Instances reported {that a} wealth supervisor for the defence secretary contacted BlackRock about making a multimillion-dollar funding in a defence-related fund within the weeks main as much as the warfare.
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Hegseth’s dealer at Morgan Stanley finally didn’t go forward with the funding within the exchange-traded fund, whose holdings embody Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, as a result of it was not but accessible for buy on the time, The Monetary Instances reported, citing three unnamed sources.
“This allegation is solely false and fabricated. Neither Secretary Hegseth nor any of his representatives approached BlackRock about any such funding,” Parnell mentioned in a put up on social media.
“That is one more baseless, dishonest smear designed to mislead the general public.”
Hegseth and his division “stay unwavering of their dedication to the best requirements of ethics and strict adherence to all relevant legal guidelines and laws,” Parnell mentioned.
Al Jazeera couldn’t independently verify the Monetary Instances report.
The Protection Division didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark despatched exterior of regular enterprise hours.
The Monetary Instances and Morgan Stanley additionally didn’t instantly reply to inquiries.
BlackRock declined to remark.
The report comes amid scrutiny of well-timed trades in monetary and prediction markets which have fuelled hypothesis that figures with insider information could also be profiting off of US President Donald Trump’s warfare plans.
Whereas The Monetary Instances reported that the tried funding by Hesgeth’s dealer didn’t go forward, the defence chief wouldn’t have made cash on such a purchase order within the month for the reason that warfare started.
Whereas the iShares Protection Industrials Energetic ETF has risen greater than 25 p.c over the previous yr, it has fallen practically 13 p.c for the reason that US and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28.
