Elissa Slotkin Questions DoD General Counsel Nominee on Pete Hegseth's Personal Lawyer

Nominee's Role and Authority

• 🎯 The nominee, Mr. Matthews, acknowledges that if confirmed, he will be the senior-most lawyer in the Department of Defense.
• 🔑 He states his role will be to advise the Secretary of Defense and Commander-in-Chief on legal standards for employing and deploying the DoD.
• ⚠️ Senator Slotkin expresses concern that Secretary Hegseth might be trying to bypass established legal channels by involving his personal lawyer, Timothy Parlatore, in overseeing reforms of the JAG corps.

Legal Boundaries and Hypotheticals

• ⚖️ Mr. Matthews asserts he will be the chief legal officer and principal staff assistant to the Secretary on all legal matters.
• ❓ When asked about active duty military suppressing non-violent protests in violation of Posse Comitatus, Matthews states he will advise on the law and advocate against such actions if they are illegal.
• 🔒 Regarding the hypothetical of US citizens being held indefinitely without charge or access to courts, Matthews expresses that he cannot imagine such a scenario occurring and hopes it never does, implying it would be illegal.

Political Views and Military Personnel

• 🗣️ On punishing military personnel for expressing lawful political views outside official duties, Matthews states he would recommend against punishment in hypothetical scenarios like voting for a Democrat.
• 🧐 He notes that members of the armed forces have truncated First Amendment rights and that disparaging remarks about leadership are an issue to be studied.
• 📉 Slotkin raises concerns about the removal of several JAGs, suggesting it might be due to their political views, but Matthews states he has seen no evidence of this.
• ❓ Matthews confirms he has not seen a situation in his career where this many JAGs were removed simultaneously.