The top Defense Department spokesman is getting ahead of a purported letter coming together to raise the signers’ collective concerns surrounding Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s performance.

The Daily Mail reported on the creation of this letter circulating around military and civilian officials within the department on Wednesday. Shortly thereafter, Sean Parnell, the chief spokesman, appeared on Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast to criticize the unnamed officials purportedly involved in this effort.

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“These deep-staters who penned this letter, by the way, this anonymous letter, they didn’t even have the courage to put their name on the letter,” Parnell said. “They penned this letter thinking they are defending democracy, but really, what they are doing is subverting our republic. The real dangers to democracy are unelected deep-state bureaucrats who are trying to thwart the president’s agenda.”

The letter has not been published, it is unclear who is organizing it, and it is unknown when exactly it will be released — if at all. The Daily Mail reported that organizers are undecided on whether the signers should publicize their identities or possibly get more signatures if they protect their identities.

“It’s completely ridiculous, we reject it wholesale,” Parnell continued.

During his six-month tenure, Hegseth has primarily focused on eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, jobs, and efforts across the services; banning service members with gender dysphoria; implementing gender-neutral physical standards for the services; and more.

Parnell touted those accomplishments and the implementation of the president’s “America First” agenda at the Pentagon, including the military’s strikes on Iran, operational control of the southern border, and pushing the U.S.’s European allies to spend more on their own defense.

Hegseth’s full endorsement of Donald Trump’s “America First” agenda has kept him in the president’s good graces despite a series of hiccups that have simultaneously plagued his tenure after overcoming a difficult confirmation process that included questions about his infidelity in his first two marriages, his drinking habits, and a disputed sexual encounter that resulted in a police investigation but no charges.

The secretary put details of an impending military operation against the Houthis in Yemen in a Signal group chat, which is not an approved platform for the sharing of classified information by the Defense Department, that included more than a dozen Cabinet officials, and unknowingly, a journalist for the Atlantic.

Trump ultimately dismissed his national security adviser, Mike Waltz, who took responsibility for adding the journalist. Leaks to the media regarding the chat and other topics led Hegseth to fire three senior staffers at the Pentagon.

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There are two ongoing Defense Department investigations into the Signal chat saga: one conducted by the inspector general’s office, and the other by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations.

Parnell said the letter is designed to push “this fake chaos narrative.”