With the inaugural festivities over with and the media totally shifted from Regime to Resistance, it is time for the left to renew their ongoing war against Defense Secretary-designate Pete Hegseth. This time, via the airing of allegations that are in dispute.
Watch CBS’s report on these allegations in their entirety:
CBS EVENING NEWS
1/21/25
6:38 PM
NORAH O’DONNELL: There are disturbing new allegations against Pete Hegseth, Trump's embattled nominee for Defense Secretary. We have details now from CBS's Nikole Killion.
NIKOLE KILLION: Pete Hegseth's former sister-in-law Danielle Hegseth alleges the Defense Secretary nominee was abusive toward his second wife, Samantha. In a sworn affidavit provided to the Senate Armed Services Committee, Danielle Hegseth claims Samantha told her she once hid in a closet for fear of her safety.
TAMMY DUCKWORTH: Would you like a copy of it?
KILLION: Democrats who reviewed the statement were outraged.
ELIZABETH WARREN: What I read in that affidavit reinforces the idea that not only is Pete Hegseth not qualified to be Secretary of Defense, he is truly a danger.
KILLION: Danielle Hegseth, who was married to Hegseth's brother, also alleges Samantha had a plan to get away from Hegseth, by texting a safe word to her if she needed help. During his confirmation hearing, Hegseth denied any allegations of violence toward his former wives.
TIM KAINE: Did you ever engage in any acts of physical violence against any of your ives?
PETE HEGSETH: Senator, absolutely not.
KILLION: To be confirmed, Hegseth can only afford to lose three Republican votes. Some, including Maine’s Susan Collins, are still deliberating.
SUSAN COLLINS: I had told you earlier that I was undecided.
KILLION: In a statement to CBS News, an attorney for Pete Hegseth said that his ex-wife Samantha never alleged any abuse in court documents or to the FBI, and he called Danielle Hegseth’s claims “blatant” and “false”. Norah.
O’DONNELL: Nikole Killion. Thank you very much.
The Trump-bashing resumes, by proxy if need be. Of course, Killion is reporting off of NBC’s reporting on the allegations made by Hegseth’s former sister-in-law. I will note here that NBC omitted reporting on any of this on the NBC Nightly News. Furthermore, there are some major omissions in this CBS report.
There is no mention of Samantha Hegseth’s disavowals of the allegations in the affidavit. As cited in the NBC report:
In an email response Monday, Samantha Hegseth said: “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.”
She added, “I do not believe your information to be accurate, and I have cc’d my lawyer.”
Asked what information was not accurate and for comment on the affidavit, she replied on Tuesday: “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.”
Killion cites the attorney, but never Hegseth’s ex-wife’s direct denial. From NBC’s reporting, reasonable people can easily infer that the sister-in-law is driving this. The reporting also notes that the sister-in-law has at least the appearance of an axe to grind against Hegseth.
Then there is this curious line in the report:
Two days before Congress received the affidavit, NBC News asked Hegseth's second wife, Samantha Hegseth, to comment on details of some of the allegations in the affidavit.
It appears that NBC saw the affidavit two days before the government. Who else saw it? Who shopped it to the Senate Armed Services Committee? Who shopped it to NBC? We don’t know.
Barring a 9-1-1 transcript or a domestic violence injunction, there is little evidence to affirm these allegations. The allegations are tantamount to hearsay evidence, which is inadmissible in court.
Once again, the media seek to aid Democrats in the destruction of a formidable nominee for the Defense Department, as they did for Robert Bork, Clarence Thomas, and Brett Kavanaugh when they were considered for the Supreme Court. The Kavaborking of Pete Hegseth continues apace.
