WASHINGTON – Senators on both sides of the aisle raised new questions Wednesday about the vetting process for Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth, pointing to allegations that were not disclosed by Trump’s transition team as part of the Trump transition team’s background check. Hegseth’s FBI that was passed on to two key people. lawmakers before his confirmation hearing.
Those questions come a day after Danielle Hegseth, Pete Hegseth’s former sister-in-law, said in an affidavit that Pete made his ex-wife, Samantha Hegseth, “fear for her safety” while they were married. The affidavit was filed in response to a request for information sent by Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., the committee’s top Democrat.
Danielle Hegseth said in the affidavit, the existence of which was first reported by NBC News, that she had provided the information contained in the affidavit to the FBI over the course of two conversations since December, including one on Saturday. The information she provided in the first conversation was not conveyed by Trump’s team to the leadership of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which held the confirmation hearing. The second conversation occurred after the hearing.
In response to an earlier request for comment from NBC News, Samantha Hegseth said: “There was no physical abuse in my marriage. This is the only additional statement I will make to you. I have let you know that I do not and will not talk about my marriage to Pete. Please respect this decision.”
Among the accusations included are that Samantha once hid from Hegseth in her closet, that she developed escape plans to use “if she felt she needed to get away from Hegseth” that would be activated with a code word, and that she once set the escape plans in action.
More than 20 senators, including several Republicans, have seen an unredacted version of the affidavit, according to two people with knowledge of the process. A copy of the unredacted affidavit has been made available to all senators. According to two people who saw the unredacted affidavit filed by Danielle Hegseth and told it to NBC News, it contains a previously unreported allegation.
“As I told the FBI, Samantha once told me that Hegseth grabbed her groin without consent at her home. “Samantha told me about this sometime between 2014 and 2016,” Danielle Hegseth says in the affidavit. “I believe what Samantha told me because what she told me is consistent with what I personally observed about Hegseth’s erratic and aggressive behavior over many years.”
Danielle Hegseth also notes in the affidavit that this “occurred in the privacy of [Samantha and Pete Hegseth’s] At home and I did not personally witness physical or sexual abuse by Hegseth.”
An attorney for Samantha Hegseth did not respond to a request for comment on this previously unreported allegation.
When asked for comment on this allegation, Tim Parlatore, Pete Hegseth’s attorney, said in an email: “As NBC is well aware, the actual contestant, Samantha, has denied these false allegations, but NBC continues to irresponsibly report false allegations by part of an uninvolved person. third as if they were facts.”
Senators’ concerns
asked on Wednesday If you were concerned that the FBI background check on Pete Hegseth provided by the Trump transition was incomplete, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, responded: “I am.”
Collins’ office told NBC News that the senator had not seen the unredacted copy of the affidavit, which contains the previously unreported allegation.
“Let me say this because I am not a member of the [Armed Services Committee]”I have not seen the FBI background check, but others have told me that pertinent information has not been included, and that is concerning,” Collins said. “Because when you make a decision about a nominee you want to have as complete a picture as possible.”
Sen. Thom Tillis, R.N.C., who saw the unredacted affidavit Tuesday afternoon when it first became available to senators, said Wednesday that he was not previously aware that the Trump transition, and not the FBI, sets the parameters around what from a The candidate’s background check is presented to the two senior senators on the committee considering the nomination. In any transition or administration, the scope and timing of a background check is not set by the FBI but by the organization requesting it be performed for a candidate.
“I’m looking into this to see the procedure, if that’s the case, if that’s how it’s done,” Tillis said. “And then trying to figure out: Is that an aberration? Or is this how it has been done between Democratic and Republican members? Don’t know”.
Tillis revealed that he attempted to “corroborate” Danielle Hegseth’s allegations because he spoke to other witnesses with their own “interesting accounts” of experiences with Pete Hegseth.
He also suggested he was still undecided about Hegseth after voting, along with every other Republican senator, to move forward with Hegseth’s nomination on Tuesday.
“I’m interested in anything until the final vote. Last night I voted on the motion to proceed, but I made it very clear to the administration and to my colleagues that I treat each of these pieces of information with respect, potential witnesses with respect. I just have to confirm the facts and corroborate them,” he said.
An FBI spokesperson told NBC News on Wednesday that the office “does not comment on specific background investigations.”
In a statement, the FBI said: “Completed as quickly as possible, the background investigation focuses on character and conduct. The FBI acts as a provider of investigative services and does not judge or render an opinion on the results of the background investigation. The FBI’s role is purely fact-finding. Once the investigation is completed, the report is sent to the Office of the White House Counsel or the Office of the President-Elect for use as deemed appropriate.”
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, a member of the Armed Services Committee who announced she would support Hegseth’s nomination hours after her confirmation hearing last Tuesday, told NBC News on Wednesday that “the FBI has done its job” when He was asked about the allegations contained. in the document.
“The ex-wife has denied the allegations. … I think we should take their word for it,” Ernst said.
Samantha and Pete Hegseth, who have three children together, signed a court document in 2021 that said neither parent claimed to be a victim of domestic abuse.
Hegseth’s attorney, Parlatore, said he was in contact with Samantha Hegseth around the time she made a statement to NBC News on Tuesday afternoon, just before NBC News published a story revealing the existence of the statement. sworn
In response to a request for comment and additional questions sent to him by NBC News on Tuesday afternoon, Parlatore had emailed: “We just reached out to Pete’s ex-wife…she will email you shortly, copying Pete and will make it clear that there was never any abuse.”
On Wednesday, Parlatore sent a letter to Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., chairman of the Armed Services Committee, urging Wicker to “reject” Danielle Hegseth’s affidavit and instead “rely on the Minnesota Court records and the FBI’s conclusions. to “move forward to confirm” Hegseth. The letter was first reported by Punchbowl News.
Wicker told reporters later that day that for him the affidavit “basically doesn’t change much.”
“I think the nomination will go forward,” he added. “Are you asking me if I am inclined to abandon the yes vote? My answer is that I remain a firm yes.”
The final vote on Pete Hegseth’s nomination could take place this weekend. A simple majority, or 51 of 100, is required for Hegseth to be confirmed by the Senate, where Republicans have a four-vote margin.
