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Washington: Donald Trump’s controversial pick to run the Pentagon has staunchly rejected allegations of sexual assault and aggressive drunkenness, insisting he was the target of a “coordinated smear campaign” designed to undermine the president-elect.
In a fiery confirmation hearing at Capitol Hill, Fox News host Pete Hegseth also said that if he was appointed secretary of defence, as designated by the President-elect, he would work with Indo-Pacific allies to deter China’s aggression in the region; get rid of diversity programs in the military; and overhaul the department to achieve Trump’s mission to “bring the warrior culture back”.
Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to be defence secretary, at the completion of his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, at the Capitol in Washington.Credit: AP
“He, like me, wants a Pentagon laser focused on lethality, meritocracy, war fighting, accountability,” said Hegseth, a 44-year-old former Army National Guard officer who has railed against ‘wokeness’ in the military.
The confirmation hearing was the first of many for Trump’s contentious cabinet nominees, who also include vaccine sceptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr to run the federal Health Department; Russian sympathiser Tulsi Gabbard as his preferred director of national intelligence; and MAGA loyalist Kash Patel as FBI director.
But Hegseth arguably faces the toughest battle to get confirmed by the Senate, amid a flurry of allegations about his character, conduct and lack of experience to manage a department with a budget of $US850 billion ($1.37 billion).
“How can we ask these warriors to train and perform the absolute highest standards when you are asking us to lower the standards to make you the secretary of defence simply because you are buddies with our president-elect?” Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth, an Iraq War veteran and Purple Heart medal recipient, told him during the hearing.
Pete Hegseth appears before the Senate Armed Services Committee at the Capitol for his confirmation hearing.Credit: AP
Among the issues Hegseth was forced to address were claims that he raped a woman during a Republican conference in October 2017 (he insists the sex was consensual); allegations of aggressively drunkenness from colleagues at Fox (which he denies) and previous derogatory comments about women being incapable of serving in combat (which he walked back after being nominated for the job.)
He also rejected claims of financial mismanagement while leading two small non-profit organisations from 2008 to 2016.
Addressing the range of allegations against him in his opening statement, Hegseth told the Senate Armed Services committee: “A small handful of anonymous sources were allowed to drive a smear campaign and an agenda about me because our left-wing media in America today doesn’t care about the truth.”
“All they were out to do… was to destroy me. And why do they want to destroy me? Because I’m a change agent and threat to them. Because Donald Trump is willing to choose me – to empower me – to bring the Defence Department back to where it should be, which is war fighting.”
Pete Hegseth interviewing Trump in his capacity as a Fox News reporter in 2017.Credit: AP
The hearing began in the usual partisan fashion with Republicans – who have the majority in the Senate – giving the TV host a warm welcome, while Democrats made it clear he would not get their vote.
Senator Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the committee, kicked things off by describing the allegations against Hegseth as “alarming”.
After a few interruptions from anti-Gaza protesters, things got particularly heated when Democrat Senator Tim Kaine brought up the sexual assault report that a woman made to police in California in October 2017. Hegseth was never charged over the incident, he paid the woman and she signed a non-disclosure agreement to prevent his job at Fox being compromised.
“At that time, you were still married to your second wife, correct?” Kaine asked.
“I believe so,” Hegseth replied.
“And you had just fathered a child by a woman who would later become your third wife, correct?” the senator asked.
Pete Hegseth kisses his wife Jennifer Rauche at the completion of a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing for his confirmation.Credit: AP
“Senator, I was falsely charged, fully investigated and completely cleared,” Hegseth answered, prompting an incensed Kaine to ask: “You had just fathered a child two months before by a woman that was not your wife. I’m shocked that you would stand here and say that you were completely cleared!
Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin later called out Democrats for grandstanding and hypocrisy.
“How many senators have shown up drunk to vote at night? Don’t tell me you haven’t seen it because you have,” Mullin said. “How many senators do you know have gotten divorced for cheating on their wives? Did you ask for them to step down? … It’s ridiculous.”
Hegseth’s own words were used against him during the hearings, as democrats drew on a number of books he has published to question his suitability.
In one of them, The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free, Hegseth complained about “woke” generals who he said had made the military “effeminate” by pushing diversity policies.
Asked how he would address the issue of wokeness in the military today, Hegseth replied: “First and foremost, up front, you have to tear out DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] and CRT [critical race theory] initiatives, root and branch, out of institutions. And then you have to put in Army, Navy and Air Force secretaries and others civilian positions at the helm who are committed to the same priorities that the President of the United States is, and if confirmed, the secretary of defence will be. This will send a clear message that this is not a time for equity.”
He was less forthcoming, however, when asked by Democrat Elissa Slotkin if he would “stand in the breach” should Trump give an unlawful order to use military troops to do the president’s bidding. Hegseth simply said he rejected the premise of the question because Trump wouldn’t do that.
The confirmation hearings will continue tomorrow with Trump’s pick for attorney-general, Pam Bondi. While Republicans have the majority in the Senate, he cannot afford to lose more than three Republican votes (assuming all the Democrats vote in a bloc) for his nominees to get the green light.
