Sec. of Defense Nominee Pete Hegseth Facing New Allegations

While it looked like the Pete Hegseth nomination was safe, that narrative has quickly changed over the last few days.

New allegations have been made against Hegseth, and at least one GOP Senator has now stated she will not support his nomination.

Round 1

Hegseth was hit hard coming right out of the gate for previous sexual assault allegations that were made against him. I dismissed those because the matter had been investigated by police, and no charges were ever filed.

However, there were also allegations made by some former Fox News co-workers of Hegseth’s, who stated he often came to work hungover and smelling of alcohol. In addition, there were allegations of questionable behavior for the two charities he worked at, as well as financial mismanagement.

When Hegseth was asked about the drinking reports during his confirmation hearing, he responded, “Senator, those are multiple false anonymous reports peddled by NBC News that run directly contradictory to the dozens of men and women at Fox News Channel who I worked with and said they never saw that.”

At the time of the hearing, I stated that Republicans did no favors for Hegseth by not drilling him on how he would handle the budget, especially when you consider the allegations made against him for financial mismanagement at the charities. There is also the fact he was a Major in the Army, meaning he would have never been responsible for more than 200 or so troops, and now he was going to be in charge of millions of them.

New Allegations

New allegations have surfaced against Hegseth, and this time they have a name attached to them, that being Danielle Hegseth, Pete’s sister-in-law.

She signed an affidavit claiming she witnessed Pete being abusive toward his second wife, Samantha Hegseth, to the point Samantha once had to hide in a closet for fear of what he would do to her.

In part, her filing stated, “I believe Hegseth to be an erratic, volatile person with an alcohol abuse problem. I do not believe he is trustworthy or of good character. It is my opinion he is unfit to serve as Secretary of Defense.”

Samantha Hegseth, the alleged victim, denied the allegations when contacted by NBC News, stating, “I do not believe your information to be accurate, and I have cc’d my lawyer.” Pete Hegseth’s attorneys have also refuted the claims, saying his sister-in-law had an ax to grind with him, and nothing more.

Will Not Support

Hegseth was a polarizing nominee from the outset due to his lack of experience and questionable money-management skills, but these allegations have only made senators more hesitant to back him.

To that point, holding only a 53-47 edge in the Senate, Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) has already announced that she will not support Hegseth’s nomination, posting, “Given the global security environment we’re operating in, it is critical that we confirm a Secretary of Defense, however, I regret that I am unable to support Mr. Hegseth.”

In her post, she cited "allegations of sexual assault and excessive drinking" as part of her reasoning for not supporting Hegseth.

When Hegseth was nominated, I stated that I was open to having him prove to me he was worthy of the post, but Republicans only defended him and gushed over him rather than asking him real questions that would prove he was capable of handling this job. So, again, I ask everyone, how comfortable are you handing over nearly $1 trillion and millions of troops to someone that lost his job as the head of two charities partly over financial mismanagement claims and who has led no more than 200 troops in battle?