It looks like Matt Gaetz, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for Attorney General, isn’t the only prospective Cabinet member with a troubled past. He’s apparently in good company with former Fox & Friends cohost Pete Hegseth, Trump’s nominee for Defense Secretary. His transition team received this troubling information Thursday after his incoming chief of staff Susie Wiles was presented with an allegation that Hegseth had engaged in sexual misconduct.
Sources report that Wiles was briefed Wednesday night about the allegation that Hegseth had acted inappropriately toward a woman. One source claimed the alleged incident happened in Monterey, California in 2017, Vanity Fair reports.
One of the transition sources said the allegation is serious enough that attorneys for Wiles and Trump spoke to Hegseth about it earlier Thursday. An additional source knowledgeable about the meeting said Hegseth claimed the allegation stems from a consensual encounter and framed the situation as he-said, she-said.
Timothy Parlatore, Hegseth’s lawyer, ran defense for him Thursday evening, saying pretty much what you’d expect.
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“This allegation was already investigated by the Monterey police department and they found no evidence for it.”
Then Steven Cheung, Trump’s communications director said this with a straight face:
“President Trump is nominating high-caliber and extremely qualified candidates to serve in his Administration. Mr. Hegseth has vigorously denied any and all accusations, and no charges were filed. We look forward to his confirmation as United States Secretary of Defense so he can get started on Day One to Make America Safe and Great Again.”
“High-caliber and extremely qualified candidates,” … yeah. No. Poor man must be delusional from listening to Trump for too long.
Right before Thursday’s meeting, one source who was higher up in the MAGA echelon and familiar with the allegation said Hegseth wasn’t properly scrutinized before Trump chose him.
“He wasn’t vetted,” the source said. This was, however, dismissed by the senior transition source. “Hegseth was vetted, but this alleged incident didn’t come up.”
https://twitter.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1857237228789076312?fbclid=IwY2xjawGjmFtleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHQ7Gq4CqNRnOF8Xfa7q3DgWAQWLRMagqRCuEWWKkYqJZ3vVE-UWi-b7hrg_aem_xT7SiFRzCf8nLUQtboDoYg
Of course, Trump shook up pretty much everyone in the military and political establishment when he nominated Hegseth to oversee the Pentagon. Hegseth, a 44-year-old army veteran, also has a fiery history of making controversial statements, and the road to being confirmed by the Senate looks pretty rocky.
He’s definitely made some bizarre comments, calling liberals “domestic enemies” who want “trans-lesbian black females [to] run everything!”
Maaaan, he says that like it’s a bad thing. Oh, and in 2018, when he was being considered as a potential appointee to run the Department of Veterans Affairs, it was reported he had an affair with a Fox producer. This resulted in a child, which normally wouldn’t be considered a big deal except he was still married to his second wife. Vanity Fair reports. He later married the producer.
So, just like in 2016, the feathers are already flying and Trump isn’t even in office yet.
A colleague of Hegseth’s blamed the GOP establishment for revealing the sexual misconduct allegations, claiming they are trying to scupper the former Fox host’s nomination.
“They’ll try to kill all these nominations before the confirmation vote,” the ally said. Gee, they said that like it’s a bad thing.
I know, I know. I already said that. But dire eternities like an upcoming Trump administration require sarcasm. If I weren’t able to do this my head would explode. Look, we’re all stuck with a tangerine-colored, potato-shaped would-be dictator who yells like a baboon with an infected tooth. So a little sarcasm acts like a soothing balm for our soon-to-be tormented souls.
Featured image via YouTube screengrab
