Sen. Tim Kaine mentioned he pushed Protection Secretary-nominee Pete Hegseth about infidelity and sexual misconduct in a listening to final week as a result of he believed it was the one strategy to get Republicans to think about voting in opposition to him.
Talking Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Kaine (D-Va.) mentioned: “My statement of my Republican colleagues is the one purpose they ever vote no on a nominee is both a perception of gross incompetence when it comes to {qualifications} or critical character deficit.”
For example, Kaine cited the case of then-Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), whose possibilities to be President-elect Donald Trump’s lawyer basic had been shortly scuttled by private scandal.
In Hegseth’s Senate listening to Tuesday, Kaine requested at one level: “You acknowledge you cheated in your spouse and that you simply cheated on the girl by whom you had simply fathered a toddler?”
The Virginia senator additionally raised issues a few 2017 incident in California during which a lady accused Hegseth of sexual assault. “I do know in my occasion it was a false declare,” Hegseth mentioned in response.
On Sunday, Kaine mentioned Senate Democrats had divvied up matters to deal with since Hegseth would not meet with them. He additionally mentioned he thought the questioning was efficient.
“I believe general, within the listening to, we put quite a lot of materials on the desk for folk to think about,” he informed host Margaret Brennan.
These questions do not appear to have created a lot concern about his nomination amongst Senate Republicans, who’ve a 53-47 majority. In reality, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) endorsed Hegseth after the listening to, saying: “Our subsequent commander in chief chosen Pete Hegseth to serve on this function, and after our conversations, listening to from Iowans, and doing my job as a United States senator, I’ll help President Trump’s decide for secretary of Protection.”
Regardless. Kaine nonetheless discovered a lot to not like in regards to the nominee.
“I consider he could be a really harmful secretary of Protection,” Kaine mentioned Sunday.
