Dems Grill Hegseth in Tense Confirmation Hearing: ‘You Lack the Character’
Four years ago today, as preparations were underway for the inauguration of then President-elect Joe Biden, National Guard Master Sergeant DeRicko Gaither sent an email warning of a possible “Insider Threat” in the ranks: a guardsman named Pete Hegseth, who, Gaither wrote, had a tattoo of a refrain favored by white nationalists on his bicep. Hegseth ultimately quit the military over the incident, which he characterized as an affront to his Christian faith. (He has claimed, erroneously, that the complaint centered on a separate tattoo, of a cross.)
Today, Hegseth sits before senators on the Armed Services Committee, who are asking questions about whether he is fit not just to provide inauguration security, but to run the entire Pentagon, as Donald Trump’s secretary of defense.
Hegseth’s questionable tattoos were a near-negligible side note when stacked up against the laundry list of disturbing revelations about the former Fox News host that has emerged since Trump tapped him to lead the military.
Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the ranking Democrat on the committee, minced no words. “A variety of sources, including your own writing, implicate you in disregarding the laws of war, financial mismanagement, racist, and sexist remarks about men and women in uniform, alcohol abuse, sexual assault, sexual harassment, and other troubling issues,” he said.
“Indeed the totality of your own writings and alleged conduct would disqualify any service member from holding any leadership position, much less being confirmed as the secretary of defense,” Reed continued. “Mr. Hegseth, I do not believe that you’re qualified to meet the overwhelming demands of this job.”
Reed’s comments were followed by tough questioning on the issues he alluded to from his colleagues on the committee. Here’s some of what went down:
On his comments about women
Hegseth has said in the past that women should not be allowed to serve in combat roles in the military. Today, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) took Hegseth to task over his desire to minimize women’s role within the armed forces.
“We have hundreds, hundreds of women who are currently in the infantry, lethal members of our military, serving in the infantry. But you degrade them. You say, ‘We need moms, but not in the military, especially in combat units,’” Gillibrand said. “As secretary, would you take any action to reinstitute the combat arms exclusion for female service members?” Hegseth did not respond to the question, instead focusing his response on Gillibrand’s accusations that his comments demeaned female service members. “I’ve never disparaged women serving in the military. I respect every single female service member who has put on the uniform, past and present,” he said.
Hegseth defended his position at several points throughout the hearing, at one point stating that “when I’m talking about that issue, it’s not about the capabilities of men and women; it’s about standards.”
“This committee has talked a lot about standards, standards that we, unfortunately over time, have seen eroded in certain duty positions, certain schools, certain places, which affects readiness, which is what I care about the most,” Hegseth added.
When pushed by Gillibrand to give concrete examples demonstrating that standards had been lowered to accommodate women’s service in combat roles, Hegseth attempted to claim that “commanders meet quotas to have a certain number of female infantry officers,” prompting Gillibrand to correct him.
“Commanders do not have to have a quota for women in the infantry. That does not exist,” she said. “Your statements are creating the impression that these exist because they do not.”
Multiple people were removed from the chamber for protesting the hearing, including one who yelled “You’re a misogynist!” at Hegseth. One woman, seemingly dressed in military fatigues, was carried out of the hearing by Capitol law enforcement.
“You will have to change how you see women to do this job well, and I don’t know if you are capable of that,” Gillibrand said.
On the sexual assault allegations
If Hegseth’s professional regard for the women whose careers he’d be managing was already a point of contention, a 2017 sexual assault allegation against the nominee drew additional scrutiny.
Reed noted that the women who accused Hegseth of sexual assault and his two ex-wives had not been interviewed by the FBI as part of a preparatory background report submitted as part of the Senate confirmation process. The report was not made available to the committee at large, only to Reed — the ranking member — and committee chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.).
“I believe the investigation was insufficient, frankly. There’s still FBI obligations to talk to people,” Reed said.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) asked Hegseth if he would be willing to submit an expanded FBI background check that included “interviews your colleagues, accountants, ex-wives, former spouses, sexual assault survivors, and others.” Hegseth repeatedly declined to agree, replying that he was “not in charge of FBI background checks.”
Hegseth called the allegations against him a ”coordinated smear campaign,” and claimed that he had been “completely cleared” of the allegations against him. (He has said he paid a settlement to the woman that included a confidentiality agreement.)
On his ability to lead
Hegseth led two veterans groups, and he was forced out of his leadership role in both of them, according to a damning report from The New Yorker. According to a whistleblower report regarding his time at the helm of Concerned Veterans for America, the group became “a hostile and intimidating working environment,” rife with sexism and Hegseth’s own drunken behavior. Hegseth also reportedly ran up so much debt while leading the group Veterans for Freedom that donors hatched a plan to take control away from Hegseth.
Blumenthal today detailed Hegseth’s alleged mismanagement of Veterans for Freedom, asking him if he disputes some of the figures about how reckless he was with the group’s money.
“I am extremely proud of the work me and my fellow vets did at Vets for Freedom,” Hegseth replied.
“I don’t believe you can tell this committee, or the people of America, that you are qualified to lead them,” Blumenthal said, noting that he would support Hegseth as a spokesperson for the Pentagon but that he is not fit to actually lead the nation’s military.
On his drinking
Hegseth’s drinking has become such that he has been promising senators that he will stop drinking if he is confirmed as secretary of defense. Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) raised the issue today, noting that being drunk at work is prohibited for service members, and that reports have emerged that Hegseth was regularly drunk on the job. Hegseth responded by calling the reports “false.”
“Will you resign as secretary of defense if you drink on the job, which is a 24/7 position?” Hirono continued during the tense confrontation.
“I’ve made this commitment on behalf of the men and women I’m serving,” Hegseth responded.
“I’m not hearing an answer to my question,” Hirono said.
Drinking to excess is a recurring theme of the recent scrutiny of Hegseth. He allegedly drunkenly yelled “Kill all Muslims!” while running a veterans group. He allegedly drunkenly sexually assaulted a woman in 2017. Fox News HR reportedly looked into his drunken behavior at a company Christmas party. He allegedly got so drunk at a coworker’s wedding that he struggled to stand. The list goes on.
Hegseth has insisted he doesn’t have a drinking problem, despite his promise to senators that he would quit drinking if he is confirmed to run the Pentagon.
On his infidelity
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) brought up Hegseth’s history of cheating on his wife. “You acknowledge that you cheated on your wife, and that you cheated on the woman by whom you had just fathered a child?” he said near the end of an exchange in which Hegseth wouldn’t admit that sexual assault is disqualifying. Hegseth didn’t refute what Kaine was trying to confirm about Hegseth’s 2017 sexual encounter with a woman who was not his wife. “I will allow your words to speak for themselves,” Hegseth replied.
The alleged sexual assault in 2017 that Hegseth claims was consensual may not be the only time he cheated on his wife. The New York Times obtained a letter Hegseth’s mother wrote to her son in the spring of 2018, in which she accused him of being an “abuser of women” who “lies, cheats, sleeps around, and uses women for his own power and ego.”
“I assume at each of your weddings you pledged to be faithful to your wife,” Kaine continued. “You’ve taken an oath to do that, haven’t you?”
“As I’ve acknowledged to everyone in this committee, I’m not a perfect person,” Hegseth said. “I’m not claiming to be.”
“You’ve taken an oath, like you would take an oath to be secretary of defense, in all of your weddings to be faithful to your wife?” Kaine asked again.
“I have failed in things in my life and thankfully I have been redeemed by my lord and savior Jesus Christ,” Hegseth responded.
On blindly following Trump’s orders
Trump has expressed interest in using the military for everything from quelling domestic protests, to containing the border, to taking control of Greenland.
Sen. Elisa Slotkin (D-Mich.) pressed Hegseth on his potential relationship with the president, asking him if it’s possible for a president to give an order that is unconstitutional. Hegseth dodged the question before acknowledging it was possible. When asked if he would push back if such an order was given, he reiterated that he “reject[s] the premise that President Trump will be giving any illegal orders at all.”
Hegseth continued to skirt questions from Slotkin about whether he has had discussions about using active-duty military in the U.S. and whether he would ask active-duty military to staff detention centers in the U.S. When Sen. Hirono asked Hegseth whether he would carry out an order from Trump to seize Greenland or the Panama Canal, he responded: “I will emphasize that President Trump received 77 million votes to be the lawful commander-in-chief of this country.”
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