Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth faces ethics and rhetoric scrutiny

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is under scrutiny after his broker explored buying a multimillion-dollar defense fund weeks before U.S. strikes on Iran. The exploration did not result in a trade, but the timing prompted legal and ethical conflict of interest concerns. Separately, Hegseth's frequent Christian rhetoric and Pentagon prayer-like gatherings have drawn criticism for mixing religion with military policy as the U.S. and Israel wage war with Iran. These developments matter because they threaten ethics norms, civilian-military boundaries, and public trust during wartime oversight.