Senators were presented with an 11th-hour affidavit containing spousal abuse allegations against Pete Hegseth, Trump’s nominee for Defense Secretary, just before his confirmation vote.
On Monday, the Senate Armed Services Committee voted to advance Pete Hegseth’s nomination for a full Senate floor vote.
Senators could vote as soon as Thursday to confirm Hegseth. However, an affidavit from Hegseth’s former sister-in-law, Danielle Hegseth, alleging “instances of abuse” and “mistreatment of a former spouse” involving Hegseth’s second wife, Samantha Hegseth, was submitted to senators.
Samantha Hegseth responded to the allegations via email, according to NBC News: “First and foremost, I have not and will not comment on my marriage to Pete Hegseth. I do not have representatives speaking on my behalf, nor have I ever asked anyone to share or speak about the details of my marriage on my behalf, whether it be a reporter, a committee member, a transition team member, etc.”
“I do not believe your information to be accurate, and I have cc’d my lawyer,” she added.
“There was no physical abuse in my marriage. This is the only further statement I will make to you, I have let you know that I am not speaking and will not speak on my marriage to Pete. Please respect this decision,” she said.
Tim Parlatore, an attorney for Pete Hegseth, slammed Danielle Hegseth over her false allegations.
“Sam has never alleged that there was any abuse, she signed court documents acknowledging that there was no abuse and recently reaffirmed the same during her FBI interview. Belated claims by Danielle Dietrich, an anti-Trump far-left Democrat who is divorced from Mr. Hegseth’s brother and never got along with the Hegseth family, do nothing to change that,” he said in a statement to NBC News.
“After an acrimonious divorce, Ms. Dietrich has had an axe to grind against the entire Hegseth family,” Parlatore added. “Ms. Dietrich admits that she saw nothing but is now falsely accusing Sam of lying to both the Court and to the FBI because of private, undocumented statements that she allegedly made 10 years ago.”
As reported by NBC News:
Senators received an affidavit Tuesday from the former sister-in-law of defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth in which she says his behavior caused his second wife to fear for her safety. The receipt of the affidavit comes after Senate Armed Services Committee staffers were in contact with Hegseth’s former sister-in-law for several days.
The former sister-in-law, Danielle Hegseth, submitted the affidavit in response to a Jan. 18 letter from Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., seeking “a statement attesting to your personal knowledge about Mr. Hegseth’s fitness to occupy this important position.”
Reed, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, asked Danielle Hegseth to detail what she knew of “instances of abuse, or threats of abuse, perpetrated against any other person” and “mistreatment of a spouse, former spouse, or other members of his family,” among other requests.
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