The Senate held a confirmation hearing for a number of potential political appointments this week but perhaps most controversial was former SEAL officer LouisBremer for the position of assistant secretary of defense for special operations\/low-intensity conflict.<\/p>\n
TheHarley-riding, tequila-drinking Navy SEAL and White House fellow who buys companies on occasion\" -- as his Instagram account proclaimed up until his nomination came up -- is expected by the lawmakers to help clean up special operations culture after a series of scandals have roiled across the community ranging from murders to drug use to war crimes.<\/p>\n
Without question, wehold our warfighters to a very high standard. If I'm confirmed I will make sure those standards are appropriately enforced, Bremer told Senators at the hearing.<\/p>\n
But it remains unclear how Bremer will drain the swamp while appearing to be knee-deep in it.<\/p>\n
Senators questioned him about a photograph of him hugging disgraced provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos who was fired from his job at Breitbart for defending pedophilia. Yiannopoulos has also been exposed as an anti-semite according to internal Breitbart e-mails obtained by Buzzfeed as well as a video in which Yiannopoulos sings \"America the Beautiful\" while white nationalist leader Richard Spencer and friends stand in front of him giving the Nazi salute.<\/p>\n
When asked about the photo he posted with Yiannopoulos, Bremer answered, \"listen, those were posts that I regret, they were flippant, they were in my capacity as a private sector.\" He then attempted to assure Senators by explaining to them that he has since deleted all of his social media accounts except for LinkedIn. \"People know that I'm a serious person...ethics is a very big thing,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Bremer is a managing directoratCerberus Capital Management which owns the Tier 1 Group -- of which he also sits on the board.<\/p>\n
Sen.Tim Kaineasked Bremer about press reports including in the Washington Post that the Saudis who murdered JamalKhashoggi may have been trained by the Tier 1 Group. Bremer replied that he was not aware of any press articles on the matter but he did know that they trained Saudis through a State Department program. Bremer claimed to be unaware of the Washington Post article and that he was hearing this accusation for the first time at the hearing.<\/p>\n
After continued questioning and denials that Tier 1 Group did any sort of investigation into the veracity of these press reports, Bremer offered that he would \"check.\"<\/p>\n
\"I will give you my commitment to check the record. Likely we did some type of investigation.\"<\/p>\n
\"I just don't recall the specifics of it, I'm not trying to hide any investigation we may have done or not done,\" he continued. \"I'm involved in a lot of corporate matters, a lot of different boards.\"<\/p>\n
\"I find it incredibly hard to believe thata five-person board ofthis company did not have some kind of fire drill when this allegation arose,\" Sen. Angus King said.<\/p>\n
The senators also expressed their concern about ethical issues in the special operations community and how reforms could be implemented.<\/p>\n
\"Ethics should be a big part of their (SOF)training, it should start onday one, it should be inculcated into the DNA of every SOF operator,\" Bremer said.\"It is going to take a concerted effort over multiple years to turn this narrative around because ultimately it tarnishes the vast majority of SOF operators who are out there doing their work honorably.\"<\/p>\n
Members of the Department of Defense already receive annual ethics training.<\/p>\n
Want to get more connected to the stories and resources Connecting Vets has to offer?Click hereto sign up for our weekly newsletter.<\/p>\n
Reach Jack Murphy:jack@connectingvets.comor@JackMurphyRGR.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
See more here:<\/p>\n
Louis Bremer Nominated for Special Operations Office | Connecting Vets - Connecting Vets<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Senate held a confirmation hearing for a number of potential political appointments this week but perhaps most controversial was former SEAL officer LouisBremer for the position of assistant secretary of defense for special operations\/low-intensity conflict. Continue reading