Rieckhoff says "They're not being truthful about so many things" and urges Congress to question Hegseth
Paul RieckhoffFounder and CEO of Righteous Media, host of the Independent Americans show and founder of Independent Veterans of America, on his personal X account, cross-posted to his Bluesky account
In an X post quoting the Washington Post's report, Paul Rieckhoff says "They're not being truthful about so many things" and urges Congress to return to Washington and question Hegseth.
“This should surprise no one. They're not being truthful about so many things. Congress should return to DC immediately and question Hegseth. There's nothing more important than getting the truth about America's dead sons and daughters.”
Original post
Original post
Original post
Reporting
Where this statement fits
Is the Pentagon's public count of U.S. military deaths in the Iran war complete?
On September 18, 2026, The Washington Post reported, citing six U.S. officials who spoke anonymously about the Defense Department's internal casualty accounting data, that at least 22 service members have died since the Iran war began on February 28; one official put the figure at 23. The Pentagon's public Defense Casualty Analysis System listed 18 deaths as of that date: 14 under Operation Epic Fury and 4 under an Overseas Operations category, created in July, that holds four deaths previously counted under Epic Fury. The Post said the identities and circumstances of the additional deaths are unclear, that one official said not all are directly tied to the conflict, and that the Pentagon declined to address its questions. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote on X that the report is fake and a lie; the Post said it stands by its report. On October 9, the Pentagon raised the DCAS total to 21 deaths, adding two noncombat deaths, those of Maj. Sorffly Davius, who died in Kuwait in March, and a Navy sailor who died in September. As of the October 9 tables, the 21 deaths comprise 11 hostile and 10 non-hostile deaths, and 865 service members are listed as wounded in action. The dispute is over whether the Pentagon's public count of U.S. military deaths in the Iran war is complete.
Source and context
Original post
About this source
Original post on his X account, a long-form post at 20:42:54 UTC (4:42 p.m. EDT). It opens with a line in quotation marks that is the Post's own wording, which is excluded from the quotation, and it quote-posts a tweet by Post reporter Tara Copp that linked the report. The same words appear to have been posted on his Threads, Instagram and Facebook accounts; we have not reviewed those posts.
Original post
About this source
Second post of a two-post self-thread on his Bluesky account, posted 20:46:19 UTC on September 18, 2026. The first post (posted 20:45:57 UTC) carries the quoted Post line, the first sentence of the passage and the article link. The link card shows the Post's own description of its article, which is the Post's wording, not his.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Original post
About this source
X's edit history for this post lists two versions: the original (status 2101052475599937886, 20:55:20 UTC) and this edit; the edit window closed at 21:55:20 UTC. The post quote-posts the Post's 18:45:04 UTC X post and states no casualty figure. It was published on @PeteHegseth, not @SecWar; that account's bio says the views are his own and names @SecWar and @DeptofWar as official accounts, and @SecWar reposted this edited post. Engagement when read: about 49.9K likes, 8.0K reposts, 6.9K replies, 3.17M views.
Reporting
About this source
September 18 report citing six anonymous officials familiar with internal casualty data. It does not publish the underlying data or a roster reconciling their total with DCAS. The linked archive preserves the September 19 version. The July recategorization is a separate episode from the additional deaths alleged in this report.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
According to six U.S. officials cited in a Washington Post report published at 2:23 p.m. EDT on Sept. 18, 2026, internal Defense Department data show at least 22 or 23 service member deaths since the Iran war began on Feb. 28, against 18 in the Pentagon's public casualty database; the Post said the Pentagon declined to address questions about the discrepancy. Rieckhoff's X post opens with one line from that report and quote-posts a tweet by Post reporter Tara Copp that linked it.
After the quotation
Rieckhoff cross-posted the same text to Bluesky as a two-post thread at 4:45 and 4:46 p.m. EDT, with the Post article attached. At 5:03 p.m. EDT, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth responded on X to the Post's report, calling it fake and a lie.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Rieckhoff, in a post quoting the Post's line that the public database is four deaths short, says this should surprise no one, says the Pentagon is not truthful about many matters (the post leaves the group unnamed, but the quoted excerpt concerns the Pentagon's database and the next sentence names Hegseth), and urges Congress to question Hegseth to get the truth about the war dead. The closest competing label is Challenged the characterization, because he disputes the truthfulness of what officials say. That loses because he goes beyond disputing a description to accuse the Pentagon of untruthfulness about the dead and to demand questioning of its head, which criticizes its disclosure.
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- Pete Hegseth, United States Department of Defense
More from this case
Read the full caseBenen says the revised count undermines Hegseth's attack on reporting
“Nearly a month later, the department Hegseth leads quietly reversed course, revised its total and effectively conceded that the Post’s article was correct after all.”Read statement
Jon Ossoff says the administration has been covering up combat casualties in the Iran war
“They have been covering up combat casualties to try to deceive the American public about the true cost of war. It’s a disgrace.”Read statement
Pentagon says it "continues to maintain a steadfast commitment" to accurate casualty accounting
United States Department of Defense
“continues to maintain a steadfast commitment to the transparent, accurate accounting of all Service member casualties”Read statement
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The Dispute Index. "Rieckhoff says "They're not being truthful about so many things" and urges Congress to question Hegseth". First published: 2026-09-19. Last updated: 2026-10-07. https://disputeindex.com/events/1162-in-an-x-post-quoting-the-washington-post