President-elect Donald Trump firmly threw his full assist behind Pete Hegseth on Friday, making clear he’s nonetheless his decide to “be a fantastic, high-energy Secretary of Defense.”
“Pete is a WINNER, and there is nothing that can be done to change that!!!”
Trump firmly threw his full assist behind Pete Hegseth. Getty Pictures
The 44-year-old Military fight vet made the rounds on Capitol Hill this week to drum up assist for his affirmation amid an onslaught of allegations about his previous alcohol abuse, sexual impropriety and monetary mismanagement.
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), who’s an Military veteran and sufferer of sexual assault herself, revealed Thursday that she hadn’t agreed to vote “yes” on Hegseth’s affirmation but and seemed ahead to “a very thorough vetting process.”
Ernst’s non-committal assertion adopted a number of others from Senate Republicans — together with South Carolina’s Lindsey Graham, who referred to as the allegations towards Hegseth “concerning.”
“I had a call with the president-elect this morning. He said, ‘Keep going, keep fighting,’” Hegseth advised reporters on Wednesday amid conferences with soon-to-be Senate Majority Chief John Thune (R-SD) and others.
A scathing story printed Sunday within the New Yorker detailed the lurid accusations from whistleblowers and different nameless ex-staffers at Veterans for Freedom and Involved Veterans for America between 2007 and 2016.
Whereas serving as president of CVA, Hegseth was reportedly “totally sloshed” on the job and allegedly fostered a hostile work setting for feminine workers — allegedly bringing colleagues to a Louisiana strip membership and having to be dragged off stage after attempting to affix in with the dancers.
Former senior advisers who labored with the Military vet like Sean Parnell instantly denounced the nameless accusers for peddling the “insane” and completely “false” tales about his tenure.
“If you read that article, I mean, I think you come away thinking that CVA was some sort of slush fund for parties or something — and nothing could be further from the truth,” stated Parnell, who labored below Hegseth from 2013 to 2016.
“There were no strip clubs involved that I can recall,” he added of the allegations that Hegseth misbehaved on a visit with workers to the Pelican State in 2014. “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.”
The president-elect stated Hegseth is “doing very well.” Getty Pictures
However The Put up obtained a letter from former CVA trustee Randy Lair written that very same month exhibiting Trump’s future Pentagon decide had actually “voluntarily resigned” over a disagreement with the nonprofit’s donor base on international coverage.
“I want people to look at Pete and understand him for who he is today. And to disregard the media — that was seven years ago — and most of that was misinformation,” Penelope Hegseth stated Wednesday on “Fox and Friends.”
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“He loves this country. He’s fought and almost died for this country. He’s a good dad. He’s an amazing son and father and that’s the Pete I want people to know,” she went on.“I want to say one more thing, I believe he’s the man for the job, but more than that, I believe he’s the man for such a time as this,” she added.
For his half, Hegseth in contrast his plight to that of Supreme Court docket Justice Brett Kavanaugh, whose affirmation was practically derailed by intercourse assault allegations in 2018.
“Do you think you’re being Kavanaugh’ed right now?” podcast queen Megyn Kelly requested him in a Wednesday interview.
“I had a member, not 45 minutes ago, look me in the eye in private, just he and I and say, ‘That’s what they’re trying to do to you,’” Hegseth responded, quoting the member. “‘That’s their playbook. Get ready for more.’”
“You’re a threat to them, you’re a threat to their system,” he stated the lawmaker added.
“Kavanaugh stood up and he won,” Hegseth recalled. “And hopefully Republicans have learned that lesson. And Trump stood by him.”
Regardless of the present of assist from the as soon as and future president and a lot of the Senate GOP, different protection secretary choices have been floated.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is no less than one viable alternative candidate that Trump, 78, is contemplating ought to Hegseth bow out of the method, the Wall Avenue Journal reported Tuesday.
