# “Hegseth Has Gone Too Far.” The Pentagon Purge Hits General Donahue.

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff-981737/hegseth-has-gone-too-far-the-pentagon-purge-hits-general-donahue
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff-981737/hegseth-has-gone-too-far-the-pentagon-purge-hits-general-donahue.md
Podcast: [Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff](https://stenobird.com/podcast/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff-981737)
Published: 2026-06-26T19:59:00+00:00
Episode link: https://bleav.com/shows/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff/episodes/hegseth-has-gone-too-far-the-pentagon-purge-hits-general-donahue/
Audio file: https://pdrl.fm/c39fb6/pscrb.fm/rss/p/mgln.ai/e/1385/injector.simplecastaudio.com/c67dcf2c-bdc6-42d2-91a1-db918b8e8626/episodes/a2c572a6-699e-423a-a17d-a579d892e1d1/audio/128/default.mp3?aid=rss_feed&awCollectionId=c67dcf2c-bdc6-42d2-91a1-db918b8e8626&awEpisodeId=a2c572a6-699e-423a-a17d-a579d892e1d1&feed=8GTvjwcf
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Duration seconds: 650

## Resource

Pete Hegseth has been quietly purging the Pentagon of anyone who might outshine him, contradict him, or threaten his grip on power. This week he came for General Chris Donahue — a West Point graduate, 75th Ranger Regiment veteran, former commander of the military's most elite special missions unit, the architect of the Afghanistan airlift that saved 124,000 allies, and the builder of NATO's Eastern Flank Deterrence Initiative against Russia. Paul Rieckhoff is joined by former FBI special agent and national security analyst Christopher O'Leary, who worked alongside Donahue, to explain why this is the purge that finally goes too far.

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## Transcript

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