Anonymous sources claim Pentagon recklessly cutting key officials out of decisions

The Atlantic reports internal sources are sounding the alarm on the Trump administration removing the military lawyers who would normally be warning against blowing up little girls.

“One of Pete Hegseth’s first actions after taking charge at the Pentagon was to fire top lawyers in the Army, Navy, and Air Force — senior officers who the defense secretary said functioned as ‘roadblocks’ to the president’s orders,” reports Sarah Fitzpatrick and Missy Ryan. “The former National Guardsman has a history of hostility toward military lawyers and the legal restraints they impose on the use of military might. They are known as judge advocates general. Hegseth calls them ‘jagoffs.’”

This week, the Atlantic reports Hegseth proposed a “ruthless” overhaul of the military’s uniformed and civilian lawyers, in a ploy for “maximum lethality.” But anonymous sources inside the Pentagon warn Hegseth is setting the U.S. up for heavy legal damage and major violations of international law.

“We just have no faith that this is a good-faith thing,” one anonymous source told the Atlantic, adding that Hegseth and his top advisers are committed to “absolutely cutting JAGs out of key decisions.”

But JAGs serve a vital oversight function on whether drone strikes are aimed at legally justified targets or whether to prosecute accusations of abuse inside the military. Attorneys were particularly stricken at the thought of twisting attorneys into weapons, and interpreted the message as a signal to pay less regard to the international laws of war, such as those enshrined in the Geneva Convention, to which the U.S. is a member.

“If you’re advising on operational law, your goal as a lawyer is not to increase lethality. If that were the goal, then lawyers would just say, ‘Yes, bomb everything.’ But that would be a blatantly unethical goal for a lawyer,” said Sarah Harrison, a former civilian Pentagon attorney.

When he’s not forcing out lawyers, sources say Hegseth is reassigning them to temporary duty as immigration judges and leaving military commanders without legal counter-advice to the Trump administration’s potentially unlawful commands.

Additionally, congressional staff say JAGs and other members of the military are contacting lawmakers with concerns that the Pentagon’s leadership is targeting or sidelining JAGs on purpose. One source warned the Atlantic that the administration “has shown that if there is an opportunity to seize greater control and power over lawyers, whether it’s civilian or uniforms, they will take that as far as they possibly can.”