Former Fox News host Pete Hegseth heads into a tight confirmation vote Friday to become the nation’s defense secretary amid more negative revelations about his relationship with women.
MSNBC reported Thursday that a non-disparagement clause in Hegseth’s second divorce agreement in 2018 bars both Hegseth and his second ex-wife from saying anything negative about the other in front of their children or in “any public discourse, including through either traditional media or social media.”
The clause raises the possibility of a hidden history which could impact decisions about Hegseth’s fitness for a position at the top of the Defense Department
The ex sister-in-law of Hegseth’s former wife, Samantha, submitted a sworn affidavit Tuesday to the Senate Armed Services Committee, saying that Hegseth was physically abusive in his marriage to Samantha.
Samantha Hegseth has denied the physical abuse allegations by Danielle Hegseth, who was married to the Fox News host’s brother.
But Samathan Hegseth, who is bound by the non-disparagement agreement, has not denied allegations that she feared for her safety or that she had a code word to send when she felt threatened.
“There was no physical abuse in my marriage,” Samantha Hegseth told NBC News. “This is the only further statement I will make to you.”
Pete Hegseth has denied all the accusations.
That news followed another revelation Thursday that Hegseth paid a substantial $50,000 to a woman who accused him of sexual assault in 2017, another accusation he has denied. He revealed the amount to a senator during his confirmation process.
Hegseth told lawmakers during the confirmation hearings that he had consensual sex with the woman and was “falsely accused” of assault. But he paid the woman as part of a nondisclosure agreement. He revealed the $50,000 payment to senator as part of the confirmation process.
At the time of the encounter, he was married to his second wife and fathered a child with a woman he was having an affair with. She would become his third wife.
Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine and and Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski already voted Thursday against advancing Hegseth to the final confirmation vote Friday.
Democrats have opposed Hegseth’s nomination to head the Defense Department.
“Pete Hegseth has shown himself not only incapable of running a large organization, he often shows himself incapable of showing up or showing up in a way where he could get anything done,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said of the nominee.
