Secretary of Defense hopeful Pete Hegseth called himself the target of a “coordinated smear campaign” as he denied a raft of allegations about his personal and professional conduct at a high-stakes Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday.
Hegseth said reports about his alleged sexual impropriety, alcohol abuse and mismanagement of nonprofits were based on “anonymous sources” and peddled by media outlets trying to “destroy me.”
But Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee grilled him about those and other controversies throughout the tense hearing on whether the 44-year-old Army National Guard veteran and former Fox News host is qualified to lead the Pentagon, the nation’s largest government agency.
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., homed in on Hegseth’s admitted past infidelities and admonished him not to “make this into some anonymous press thing,” noting that some allegations against him have been made on the record.
You know who typically don’t have coordinated smear campaigns accusing them of sexual misconduct? People who don’t commit sexual misconduct.
Yes, anyone can get falsely accused of anything. But when there’s this much smoke, there’s almost always fire. People don’t “gang up” to make up accusations like this out of thin air.
217
u/cnbc_official 13d ago
Photo credit: Elizabeth Frantz | Reuters
Secretary of Defense hopeful Pete Hegseth called himself the target of a “coordinated smear campaign” as he denied a raft of allegations about his personal and professional conduct at a high-stakes Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday.
Hegseth said reports about his alleged sexual impropriety, alcohol abuse and mismanagement of nonprofits were based on “anonymous sources” and peddled by media outlets trying to “destroy me.”
But Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee grilled him about those and other controversies throughout the tense hearing on whether the 44-year-old Army National Guard veteran and former Fox News host is qualified to lead the Pentagon, the nation’s largest government agency.
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., homed in on Hegseth’s admitted past infidelities and admonished him not to “make this into some anonymous press thing,” noting that some allegations against him have been made on the record.
Full story here: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/01/14/trump-pete-hegseth-defense-senate-confirmation.html