Addressing the range of allegations against him in his opening statement, Hegseth told the Senate Armed Services committee: “A small handful of anonymous sources were allowed to drive a smear campaign and an agenda about me because our left-wing media in America today doesn’t care about the truth.”
“All they were out to do… was to destroy me. And why do they want to destroy me? Because I’m a change agent and threat to them. Because Donald Trump is willing to choose me – to empower me – to bring the Defence Department back to where it should be, which is war fighting.”
Pete Hegseth interviewing Trump in his capacity as a Fox News reporter in 2017.Credit: AP
The hearing began in the usual partisan fashion with Republicans – who have the majority in the Senate – giving the TV host a warm welcome, while Democrats made it clear he would not get their vote.
Senator Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the committee, kicked things off by describing the allegations against Hegseth as “alarming”.
After a few interruptions from anti-Gaza protesters, things got particularly heated when Democrat Senator Tim Kaine brought up the sexual assault report that a woman made to police in California in October 2017. Hegseth was never charged over the incident, he paid the woman and she signed a non-disclosure agreement to prevent his job at Fox being compromised.
“At that time, you were still married to your second wife, correct?” Kaine asked.
“I believe so,” Hegseth replied.
“And you had just fathered a child by a woman who would later become your third wife, correct?” the senator asked.
Pete Hegseth kisses his wife Jennifer Rauche at the completion of a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing for his confirmation.Credit: AP
“Senator, I was falsely charged, fully investigated and completely cleared,” Hegseth answered, prompting an incensed Kaine to ask: “You had just fathered a child two months before by a woman that was not your wife. I’m shocked that you would stand here and say that you were completely cleared!
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Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin later called out Democrats for grandstanding and hypocrisy.
“How many senators have shown up drunk to vote at night? Don’t tell me you haven’t seen it because you have,” Mullin said. “How many senators do you know have gotten divorced for cheating on their wives? Did you ask for them to step down? … It’s ridiculous.”
Hegseth’s own words were used against him during the hearings, as democrats drew on a number of books he has published to question his suitability.
In one of them, The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free, Hegseth complained about “woke” generals who he said had made the military “effeminate” by pushing diversity policies.
Asked how he would address the issue of wokeness in the military today, Hegseth replied: “First and foremost, up front, you have to tear out DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] and CRT [critical race theory] initiatives, root and branch, out of institutions. And then you have to put in Army, Navy and Air Force secretaries and others civilian positions at the helm who are committed to the same priorities that the President of the United States is, and if confirmed, the secretary of defence will be. This will send a clear message that this is not a time for equity.”
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He was less forthcoming, however, when asked by Democrat Elissa Slotkin if he would “stand in the breach” should Trump give an unlawful order to use military troops to do the president’s bidding. Hegseth simply said he rejected the premise of the question because Trump wouldn’t do that.
The confirmation hearings will continue tomorrow with Trump’s pick for attorney-general, Pam Bondi. While Republicans have the majority in the Senate, he cannot afford to lose more than three Republican votes (assuming all the Democrats vote in a bloc) for his nominees to get the green light.
