Mediaite reached out for comment at the time and received a statement denying the story. In a new and more extensive statement, Newsmax forcefully denied that it received a call from Trump or that it banned negative coverage of Hegseth. This statement has also been added to the original story. Read it in full below:

U.S. Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL) was taken aback when he was told secretary of defense Pete Hegseth ordered a halt on cyber operations against Russia.