Defense Sec Nominee Pete Hegseth Has Quite The Baggage

Donald Trump’s nominee for Defense Secretary, Fox & Friends Weekend host Pete Hegseth, has quite the baggage. Here’s a recap of what’s been reported thus far.

“For the sake of national security, I really hope he has stopped drinking,” one of the former Fox employees said.

www.nbcnews.com/politics/nat… [image or embed] — Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly.com) December 3, 2024 at 2:15 PM

Ten current and former Fox News employees tell  NBC News that  Hegseth drank in ways that concerned his colleagues.

Two of those people said that on more than a dozen occasions during Hegseth’s time as a co-host of “Fox & Friends Weekend,” which began in 2017, they smelled alcohol on him before he went on air.

Those same two people, plus another, said that during his time there he appeared on television after they’d heard him talk about being hungover as he was getting ready or on set.

One of the sources said they smelled alcohol on him as recently as last month and heard him complain about being hungover this fall.

Hegseth drank heavily at some social events with Fox News colleagues as well, according to two former employees, with one of the former colleagues saying he would get “absolutely wasted.”

Three Fox News employees added that Hegseth sometimes showed up for work just 20 minutes before air-time.

A trail of documents, corroborated by former colleagues, indicates that Pete Hegseth was forced to step down from two previous leadership positions in the face of serious allegations of financial mismanagement, sexual impropriety, and personal misconduct.

[image or embed] — The New Yorker (@newyorker.com) December 2, 2024 at 6:08 PM

Over the weekend, The New Yorker reported on several documents, corroborated by the accounts of former colleagues, that indicate Hegseth was forced to step down by both of the two nonprofit advocacy groups that he ran—Veterans for Freedom and Concerned Veterans for America. At issue were serious allegations of financial mismanagement, sexual impropriety, and personal misconduct. A whistle-blower report on Hegseth’s time as the president of Concerned Veterans for America describes several incidents sexual impropriety and public intoxication. I won’t list them all here, but hit the link for the details. Hegseth led the group Vets for Freedom from 2007 to 2012, and according to reports, the small organization amassed massive debt during his tenure.

Pete Hegseth can’t even deny the disturbing reports that he was removed from his leadership position at Concerned Veterans for America due to his frequent binge drinking on the job.

Hegseth: *scoffs* “I’m not going to dignify that with a response.” pic.twitter.com/40SF8n1AzQ

— American Bridge 21st Century (@American_Bridge) December 3, 2024

Last week, the New York Times reported about an email sent to Hegseth by his own mother in 2018 saying he had routinely mistreated women for years and displayed a lack of character.

The mother of Pete Hegseth, President-elect Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, wrote him an email in 2018 saying he had routinely mistreated women for years and displayed a lack of character. She said on Friday that she regretted the email and had apologized to him.

[image or embed] — The New York Times (@nytimes.com) November 29, 2024 at 6:21 PM

When I first saw reports of the email only a few sentences were quoted from the email. And his mother recanted the missive telling the press she sent it “in anger, with emotion” as her son was going through his second divorce. I understand people sometimes say or write something in a fit of anger. But then I saw the entire email. This was a lengthy, thought out message, not something sent in haste. Take a look: It seems to me that for a mother to address her own son in such detail and thought, there has to be something there. And then, of course, there’s the report of sexual assault that came to light right after Hegseth’s nomination for Defense Secretary. Hegseth, who was not charged, denied the woman’s allegations. With so many different sources chronicling various specific incidents with dates and places noted, it would be hard to believe none of this is true. Aside from all of this, there’s the issue that Hegseth has zero experience managing a large organization, let alone a federal government department of over 3 million employees. NBC News is reporting this afternoon that there are at least six Republican senators who aren’t comfortable approving his nomination.

LATEST: President-elect Trump’s pick to lead the Defense Department, Pete Hegseth, is in peril as Senate Republicans grow increasingly concerned over reports about his alleged drinking and treatment of women.

[image or embed] — NBC News (@nbcnews.com) December 3, 2024 at 2:56 PM