EXCLUSIVE: Watchdog Asks Pentagon Chief Hegseth to Pull Security Clearance of Leftist Megadonor Reid Hoffman
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—A watchdog group is asking Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to revoke the security clearance of Reid Hoffman, a major Democratic donor... Read More The post EXCLUSIVE: Watchdog Asks Pentagon Chief Hegseth to Pull Security Clearance of Leftist Megadonor Reid Hoffman appeared first on The Daily Signal.
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—A watchdog group is asking Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to revoke the security clearance of Reid Hoffman, a major Democratic donor who had ties to the now-deceased convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and bankrolled litigation against President Donald Trump.
Peter Flaherty, chairman of the National Legal and Policy Center sent the letter to Hegseth on Monday about Hoffman, a tech billionaire who has the security clearance as a member of the Defense Innovation Board, a federal advisory committee, from the Biden administration.
Hoffman is no longer a member of the board, but maintains a security clearance, which allows him access to certain government information and also provides eligibility to be on future government boards related to national security.
“We believe that Mr. Hoffman has demonstrated reckless and bad judgment and is not someone the federal government should be involved with,” Flaherty told The Daily Signal. He added, “It’s a shame that Mr. Hoffman has not used his significant fortune to do some good, rather than engage in dirty tricks that undermine democratic norms.”
Hoffman is a cofounder of LinkedIn, and after selling the social media company to Microsoft is on the Microsoft board of directors. So, the letter also cautions the Department of Defense to evaluate government contracts with Microsoft. Hoffman has a net worth of $2.6 billion, according to Forbes.
“We write to request that you lift the security clearance of Reid Hoffman, who until recently was a member of the Defense Innovation Board, a federal advisory committee,” Flaherty’s letter to Hegseth says. “Furthermore, we ask that Mr. Hoffman’s continued membership on the Microsoft board of directors be raised in any contract discussions between the department and the company,”
Microsoft did not reply to inquiries from The Daily Signal for this article on Friday and Monday.
“While we do not believe that the Department should determine the membership of the boards of contractors, Mr. Hoffman presents an egregious case for the reasons detailed herein,” the letter continues. “Simply put, the United States government should not do business with any company on whose board Hoffman serves.”
The letter says Hoffman “pursued and sustained relationships, and maintained professional partnerships to benefit mutual interests” with Epstein, a New York financier convicted on sex trafficking.
The Wall Street Journal first reported that Hoffman worked with Epstein to raise money for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2015. Hoffman later reportedly invited Epstein to a 2015 dinner in Palo Alto, Calif., with other wealthy tech company owners Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Peter Thiel.
In 2019, Hoffman apologized for associating with Epstein, stating: “I helped to repair his reputation and perpetuate injustice. For this, I am deeply regretful.”
Last month, Hoffman reiterated to The Sunday Times of London that he “went to no Epstein parties,” and said any suggestion he did was false. He also claimed he had threats to his life and had increased security after Musk suggested in an interview last year that Hoffman was among those who were worried a future Trump administration would release the information on Epstein’s associates.
The letter notes that Hoffman has called Trump the “disease president” and financed several dark- money political operations.
The letter further noted that through one of his nonprofits, “Hoffman has secretly paid the legal bills for Trump accuser E. Jean Carroll, who sued him for defamation over her allegations of rape against him.” A New York jury sided with Carroll, but Trump has appealed the case.
In 2023, a Hoffman philanthropic and political adviser Dmitri Mehlhorn said in a published statement that Hoffman “had no prior knowledge” that an independent group he funded chose to finance Carroll’s case. Mehlhorn noted the money that funded Carroll’s lawsuit was made through an unidentified organization that independently chooses various legal cases to finance.
The Daily Signal contacted a spokesperson for Hoffman at the domain ReidHoffman.org, listed as the press release contact for Hoffman’s artificial intelligence company ManasAI. The Daily Signal also reached out to Greylock, a company where Hoffman is a partner. Neither responded by publication time.
The National Legal and Policy Center letter to Hegseth was also sent to White House chief of staff Susie Wiles; Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss.; and House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala. The Microsoft board of directors was also sent the letter.
A Defense Department spokesperson told The Daily Signal the department does not discuss security clearances.
The post EXCLUSIVE: Watchdog Asks Pentagon Chief Hegseth to Pull Security Clearance of Leftist Megadonor Reid Hoffman appeared first on The Daily Signal.
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