Anna Kelly
Role at the time: White House spokesperson
Defended or excused
Statement summary
Responding to Rep. Ansari’s impeachment resolution, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly praised Hegseth’s leadership and dismissed the resolution as an unserious bid for attention.
“Secretary Hegseth is doing an outstanding job leading the Pentagon – as evidenced by the unprecedented military success of Operation Epic Fury. This is a totally unserious act by backbencher Democrats who are desperate for headlines, and no media outlet should grant them the attention they obviously crave.”
Open source (opens in a new tab)House Democrats Introduce Articles of Impeachment Against Pete HegsethParagraph beginning “In response to the resolution, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told TIME that…”
TIME attributes a written response to White House spokesperson Anna Kelly, introduced as a reply to Rep. Ansari’s impeachment resolution. The Irish Star carried the same statement. This is reported attribution rather than a White House release.
Why we used this label
Relative to whether the House should impeach Hegseth, Kelly both praises his performance and dismisses the resolution itself as unserious. Rejecting the effort as illegitimate rather than engaging its allegations is a defence of the position under scrutiny.