Democrat lawmakers are furious that they have not been given access to an FBI background check on Donald Trump’s Pentagon nominee Pete Hegseth, with one likening it to a ‘cover-up.’
A Princeton graduate who served in the U.S. Army on deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan before later joining Fox News, Hegseth is best known for his conservative hot takes on the cable network’s weekend shows.
Several scandalous reports about Hegseth’s drinking habits, alleged sexual misconduct and rumors he mismanaged a veterans’ non-profit have concerned the lawmakers in charge of overseeing his confirmation.
Despite denying any wrong doing, the nominee for Secretary of Defense has few, if any, Democratic supporters in the Senate where his confirmation hearings will be held this week.
Hegseth was announced as Trump’s Pentagon selection in November, but the FBI just gave their report on the nominee to the Senate Armed Services Chairman Roger Wicker and the committee’s top Democrat Jack Reed days before the hearing, leading to distress among some senators.
Typically FBI reports on Cabinet nominees are only shared with the chairman and ranking member, but now Democrats are clamoring to get their hands on the elusive FBI file that could contain damning information on Hegseth ahead of his Tuesday confirmation.
‘Damning is an understatement,’ Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said of information he had heard of Hegseth that may or may not be in the FBI file.
He continued, saying Wicker and Reed’s withholding of the FBI file ahead of the hearing gives the ‘appearance of a cover-up.’
Pete Hegseth, president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be defense secretary, right, joined by his wife Jennifer Rauchet, arrives at the Capitol in Washington, Dec. 5, 2024. An FBI report into Hegseth’s past has been given to the top lawmakers on the Senate Armed Service Committee and now Democrats are calling to review the file
Pete Hegseth and his wife Jennifer Rauchet in some of his Instagram photos
Hegseth would be tasked with overseeing 1.3 million American service members, the nearly 800,000 reserve soldiers and the 770,000 civilian Pentagon employees
In a letter Blumenthal sent to Hegseth last week the Democrat demanded a full investigation into the veterans’ organizations that the nominee used to run.
He also slammed Hegseth because he did not ‘make himself available to meet with me and my Democratic colleagues in advance of his nomination hearing.’
Possibly in the file are further details about a 2017 incident where Hegseth allegedly groped several women at a hotel in Monterey, California.
The police investigated, but they never brought charges against the then-Fox News host. And Hegseth has adamantly denied all of the allegations against him.
The report, released by the city of Monterey, California, details an allegedly ‘very drunk’ Hegseth groping multiple woman at a hotel in the early morning hours of October 8, 2017, at the Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel and Spa.
In one particularly egregious incident at a Louisiana strip club, Hegseth allegedly attempted to join dancers on stage and needed to be physically restrained, according to a report from The New Yorker.
Another bombshell report indicated that Hegseth’s Fox News colleagues were concerned with his drinking, indicating that it impacted his job performance.
‘I need to see his FBI background check, we need to see his financial disclosures,’ Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee told reporters last week.
Hegseth and his wife Rauchet with Trump
Amid the allegations of sexual misconduct, Hegseth has been joined by his wife on his trips to Capitol Hill
‘And we need to know about any other potential lawsuits he might be facing, any other allegations he might be facing,’ the Democrat and Army veteran continued.
Duckworth admitted that she doubts she will be able to review the FBI report ahead of Hegseth’s hearing.
‘I also think it probably is not comprehensive,’ she told NBC News. ‘An FBI investigation is not the be-all and end-all, but even that we’re not being allowed to look at it.’
What exactly is in the FBI report remains unclear, though it may hold more about the myriad allegations against Hegseth.
‘Across the aisle, folks want to see the FBI background check,’ Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., said of the nominee’s file over the weekend.
Hegseth is scheduled to appear before the Armed Services Committee Tuesday morning at 9:30 am ET.