For now, Donald Trump is standing by Pete Hegseth, his embattled choose for protection secretary, however some Trump transition officers are starting to doubt whether or not the Fox Information host can survive the controversy. In response to two Republicans near Trump, the transition staff is quietly getting ready an inventory of other protection secretary candidates ought to Trump abandon Hegseth. “It’s changing into an actual risk,” one of many sources says. The second supply tells me that transition members are annoyed that Hegseth didn’t disclose he had paid a monetary settlement to a lady who alleged he raped her at a Republican girls’s occasion in 2017. “Persons are upset concerning the distraction. The final feeling is Pete hasn’t been trustworthy,” the second supply says. (Hegseth, via his legal professional Timothy Parlatore, strenuously denies his accuser’s allegation.)
Hegseth, a thrice-married, 44-year-old Military veteran turned conservative media persona, faces a troublesome affirmation battle. He has a protracted again catalogue of extreme statements: He’s expressed opposition to girls serving in fight roles and labeled the political left “home enemies.” On Thursday, I reported that Trump’s incoming chief of workers, Susie Wiles, was made conscious of an allegation that Hegseth dedicated sexual misconduct with a lady at a Republican girls’s occasion in Monterey, California, about seven years in the past (The Monterey Police Division confirmed it had investigated the alleged sexual assault and that the lady had reported struggling “contusions to proper thigh.” No fees had been filed).
Over the subsequent a number of days, journalists uncovered different troubling details about Hegseth. The Washington Put up and The New York Occasions reported that a pal of the alleged sufferer despatched the transition staff a memo that detailed what she mentioned transpired on the Hyatt Regency in Monterey. Hegseth’s lawyer informed Breitbart News that the alleged sufferer’s settlement contained confidentiality agreements that had been breached when the allegation grew to become public.
In the meantime, Mom Jones has reported that Hegseth has ties to a controversial group of Christian nationalists called the TheoBros. The group’s unofficial chief, an Idaho pastor named Doug Wilson, said in an interview final month that he believes girls shouldn’t have the suitable to vote; Hegseth has previously said he studied Wilson’s e-book My Life for Yours. Judd Legum, who writes the “Common Data” substack, reported Monday that Hegseth printed a column in school claiming that having intercourse with an unconcious lady is just not rape as a result of the lady experiences “no duress.” (Hegseth’s legal professional didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark concerning the column or his alleged ties to the TheoBros.)
Such points would undoubtedly be explored in affirmation hearings, and Trump already faces the daunting task of making an attempt to get Matt Gaetz confirmed as legal professional common (that’s, if Gaetz isn’t pushed through as a recess appointment). It was revealed this previous week {that a} lady testified earlier than the Home Ethics Committee that she witnessed Gaetz having intercourse a minor; she and a second lady additionally declare that Gaetz paid them for intercourse, according to a lawyer representing them. Gaetz has beforehand denied the allegations towards him.
Trump marketing campaign communications director Steven Cheung says in an announcement that “Hegseth has vigorously denied any and all accusations, and no fees had been filed” they usually “look ahead to his affirmation as United States secretary of protection.”
Cheung provides, “Pete Hegseth devoted his total life as a warrior for the troops and for our nation. Pete served our nation as an Military Fight Veteran who did excursions in Guantanamo Bay, Iraq, and Afghanistan. For his actions on the battlefield, he was adorned with two Bronze Stars, in addition to a Fight Infantryman’s Badge. He’s an extremely powerful and good candidate that can battle to place America First. With Pete as our Secretary of Protection, America’s enemies are on discover and our navy can be nice once more.”
One outstanding Republican near the transition says the leaks are proof that some Trumpworld insiders are alarmed by Hegseth’s lack of {qualifications} and try to ensure he doesn’t grow to be protection secretary. “There are Republicans with a background within the Protection Division who’re privately saying, ‘I’m not working for this man,’” the supply says.
The article was up to date with an announcement from Cheung.
