Secretary of War Pete Hegseth issued a memo regarding special notice to prevent foreign interference in the election with machines.
Posted by The Bulwark Daily, Checked
- Sources
- 3 support
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 85%
The Bulwark DailySep 29, 2026
Multiple reliable sources, including AP, CNN and a primary War Department release, confirm that Hegseth signed a memo (dated Sept. 22, publicly announced Sept. 28-29, 2026) directing military cyber and intelligence forces to defend US election systems from foreign interference.
The guest relays this claim without endorsing it. It counts as passed on, not against the post.
This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.
What was said
… You know, everything is done at Trump's convenience. I mean, this lie that they are peddling is set up for his convenience, so that he can deny results that he doesn't like. And I don't want to dismiss this because that lie is still active. I don't know if you saw, just yesterday, Secretary of War Pete Hexeth put out a memo saying that, you know, I'm on special notice to make sure that there is no foreign interference in the election with machines. And so was he just doing that to say, like, "Oh, I'm kind of doing something," and make the boss happy? Maybe, but they're they're still on this, and so they very much want this pretext so that they can go raid voting machines. …
The Bulwark Daily · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. AP reports that Hegseth directed defense intelligence officials, in a memo dated Sept. 22 and announced Monday, to mobilize every resource to defend election infrastructure from foreign malign influence.[1]
Supports. The War Department's primary release states Hegseth signed a memorandum directing a whole-of-government defense of election infrastructure against foreign adversaries, with Cyber Command and combat support agencies deploying intelligence and cyber capabilities.[2]
Supports. CNN reports that Hegseth signed a memo directing the military to defend the US midterm elections from foreign interference, with Cyber Command working with DHS to counter foreign cyber threats to election infrastructure.[3]
Context. The post's phrasing 'special notice' and 'with machines' is the speaker's own loose wording; the sources describe a directive to protect election systems and infrastructure, which is a reasonable reading of the claim.[1][2]
Sources
3 sources: 1 fact-checker, 1 primary, 1 tier 2
- 1Hegseth says national security, military cyber forces will guard US election systems during midtermsapnews.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports, context
- 2Secretary of War Pete Hegseth Signs Directive to Defend ...war.gov · primary source · cited for: supports, context
- 3Hegseth directs military to defend US midterm elections from foreign interference | CNN Politicscnn.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin stated that companies making 80% of electronic voting machines have acknowledged that parts of their machines are made in China.True
- The Trump administration is planning to go raid voting machines.Can’t tell
- Secretary of Homeland Security Mark Wayne Mullen threatened election officials with criminal prosecution if they did not put Trump's election changes into effect.True
- Representative Thomas Massie has filed eight articles of impeachment against Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.True
- The Department of Homeland Security threatened states with fines and charges over election measures.True