While Fox News host Pete Hegseth has faced increasing scrutiny among Republican senators ahead of what could become a contentious nominating process for secretary of defense, he said on Wednesday on social media that he won’t “back down.”
President-elect Donald Trump named Hegseth—a former Army National Guard officer and a former director of several veterans groups—to lead the Pentagon.
However, a 2017 police report from a California city detailing an assault allegation against Hegseth, which he has denied through a lawyer, has drawn scrutiny among some GOP senators.
Meanwhile, a recent media report, citing alleged sources inside Fox News, that he was drinking while at work is also threatening to derail his nomination, although several Fox News personalities have gone on social platform X to refute the claims.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), considered a longtime foreign policy hawk, said some of the reports are “disturbing” when speaking to reporters on Tuesday.
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“I want to make sure that every young woman that joins the military feels respected and welcomed,” he said.
The South Carolina lawmaker, a former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, later added that he doesn’t know whether to believe the allegations and that Hegseth should have the “chance to say that’s true or not true.”
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said he’s seen the reports.
“I’ll get the chance to talk to him, and I’m sure he’ll address them,” he said. “But my view is, have the hearing.”
In new allegations this week, The New Yorker cited what it described as a whistleblower report and other documents about Hegseth’s time leading Concerned Veterans for America that alleged multiple incidents of alcohol intoxication at work events, inappropriate behavior around female staffers, and financial mismanagement.
Sean Parnell, a former senior adviser to Hegseth at Concerned Veterans for America, told the New York Post in a phone interview that the claims in The New Yorker article are “not reflective” of Hegseth.
“There were no strip clubs involved that I can recall,” Parnell said. “Sometimes the staff—after the events were over—we would go out and have a drink. But it was never some crazy, insane thing like that article.”
This week, NBC News reported that several unnamed current and former Fox employees who worked with Hegseth said his drinking habits raised concerns, including some who said he would show up smelling of alcohol.
The Epoch Times has not been able to independently verify claims in the NBC or New Yorker reports.
On social media, multiple Fox News personalities, interviewees, and other staffers refuted some of the claims against Hegseth in those reports.
Trump’s transition team has defended Hegseth in recent media interviews. A senior Trump adviser, Jason Miller, told CNN that the latest reports are “gossip” and “innuendo,” while the team feels Hegseth can get confirmed.
On Tuesday, Hegseth told reporters he met with senators, including those potentially skeptical of his nomination.
“We’re going to meet with every senator that wants to meet with us, across the board,” he said as he went from office to office. “And we welcome their advice as we go through the advice and counsel process.”
In media interviews, Hegseth said he would overhaul the U.S. military, including terminating the employment of who he called “woke” generals and leaders. He also has said he opposes women serving in combat positions, eliminating diversity hiring practices and roles, and reasserting the United States as a global military power.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Original News Source Link – Epoch Times
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