It appears the British are attempting to undermine...

Editor's note: ...the US by releasing this story about Pete Hegseth. Financial Times (Bracken House, London, UK), a British-owned outlet, first broke the story by reporting that a broker linked to Pete Hegseth approached BlackRock about a major investment in defense contractors shortly before the Iran conflict, however, readers should treat the report with caution, as it originates from a UK-based financial news publication and remains unproven speculation rather than confirmed insider activity. The Democrats, controlled by financial ties through oligarchs linked to the city of London naturally, are now going after Peter Hegseth. As if this is the first time a political foe has been attacked for insider trading when it happens all the time. Smells like intelligence and counter intelligence being used by the media.
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Democratic senators demand answers from Hegseth over reported defense investment inquiry ahead of Iran war

"This would be a profound conflict of interest," the senators wrote to Hegseth.

By Allison Pecorin | April 2, 2026

A group of Senate Democrats are demanding more information about Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth's finances and investments following a report -- which the Pentagon demanded be retracted -- that he may have tried to invest in defense stocks before the war in Iran began roughly five weeks ago.

"If this report is accurate, it would appear to represent an appalling effort to profit off of your knowledge of the President's plans for war," Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Richard Blumenthal, Tammy Duckworth, Jeff Merkley and Gary Peters wrote in a letter to Hegseth -- and provided exclusively to ABC News -- on Wednesday night. "This would be a profound conflict of interest and a potential violation of your federal ethics agreement -- and betrayal of the nation paying the price for this war and the troops you are sending into harm's way."

The Financial Times reported earlier this week that a broker for Hegseth at Morgan Stanley contacted BlackRock -- an equity fund -- and tried to make a multimillion-dollar investment into a fund with defense stocks weeks before the Iran war.

The investment did not go ahead because it was not yet available for Morgan Stanley clients, the Financial Times reported -- adding that it's not clear whether Hegseth's broker found another defense fund to invest in.

ABC News has not independently confirmed the Financial Times' report.

When reached by ABC News, Morgan Stanley and BlackRock declined to comment on the Financial Times report

In a post on X on Monday, Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell dismissed the report calling it "entirely false and fabricated" and demanded a retraction from the Financial Times.

Still, the Democratic senators, led by Armed Services Committee member Warren, said in their letter that if the report turns out to be accurate, it would be a "serious breach of the public's trust" and in violation of the ethics agreement he signed ahead of his confirmation as secretary of defense.

"The American people deserve leaders they can trust to put national security ahead of their own financial self-interest," the senators wrote to Hegseth.

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