CNN national security analyst Susan Hennessey called out President Donald Trump’s recent war crimes pardons and interference in military personnel decisions as being driven more by coverage on Fox & Friends rather than protecting the country’s national security.

Speaking on The Situation Room, Hennessey noted the latest salvo from Trump’s just ousted Navy Secretary, Richard Spencer. On Wednesday, the Washington Post published a blistering op-ed from Spencer that called Trump’s very public intervention in protecting the Navy SEAL status of former accused war criminal Chief Eddie Gallagher “shocking and unprecedented.”

“What he’s doing is acknowledging something plain from the facts,” Hennessey said. “He is discharging his constitutional powers not to maintain good order and discipline and to the benefit of the United States and United States military in order to lead it in the way he believes serves the interests of this nation. He’s doing it because of his political interests, because of what he sees on Fox & Friends and reaching down because he’s captured by a particular narrative.”

In the past, Fox & Friends morning host Pete Hegseth has openly bragged about acting as Trump’s military consigliere and has used his platform to push the president for clemency in Eddie Gallagher’s war crimes trial.

“Keep in mind Gallagher’s own men, fellow sailors actually turned him in and he’s accused of threatening them for doing so,” Hennessey explained. “These are people who risked their careers because they believe they saw somebody doing something violating the law. I believe people like [Defense Secretary Mark] Esper and Spencer need to be concerned about what message this sends to members of the military who want to do the right thing and see other people doing the wrong thing.”

“I want to get back to this quote from earlier,” guest host Jim Acosta said, referring a part in the Spencer op-ed that references the influence of “the media” on Trump. “Former Secretary Spencer is saying ‘the media’ here but what he really means is Fox News. It seems to be yet another glaring example of this symbiotic relationship between the president and his favorite network at Fox. How they can affect national security decisions and military justice decisions, you name it.”

“It’s one thing for Fox analysts’ to offer their opinions, let’s say, on Gallagher’s case,” CNN national security analyst Sam Vinograd noted. “It is another thing for the President of the United States to make decisions based upon those analysts’ opinions and not the opinions of his Secretary of the Navy, members of his cabinet, or people that are paid and swear and oath to uphold the Constitution, so the fault her to me lies less with Fox News and more with the president.”

Watch the video above, via CNN.

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