Pete Hegseth, President-elect Trump's pick to head the Pentagon, has resigned from both of his nonprofit advocacy organizations over reports of mismanagement of funds, sexual misconduct and drunken behavior. The New Yorker reported on Sunday.
The incident, reported in a series of documents and corroborated by former colleagues to The New Yorker, occurred before Hegseth became a full-time host on Fox News TV in 2017.
Mr. Hegseth's reported firing from both Veterans for Freedom and Concerned Veterans for America comes as the country's largest federal agency, employing more than 2.8 million people, It raises further questions about his suitability as secretary of defense, an oversight position.
The publication cited an unpublished whistleblower report about Hegseth's time as president of the American Veterans Association (CVA). A seven-page report documenting his tenure from 2013 to 2016 said he repeatedly became inebriated while on duty and at times had to be carted away from organizational functions.
The report was written by several former CVA employees and sent to the organization's senior management in February 2015.
One of the most damning charges was that Hegseth was so drunk in November 2014 that he had to physically stop dancers from joining the dancers on stage at a strip club in Louisiana where he was taking his team.
Two people who contributed to the report, who told The New Yorker, said they saw Hegseth drunk on many occasions and repeatedly dragged and carried from one place to another in his inebriated state. He said he witnessed it.
“It would be scary to have him in the Pentagon,” one official said.
One of the complaints in the report referred to a CVA event in Virginia Beach over Memorial Day weekend in 2014, in which Hegseth was deemed “totally bummed out” and ” He was so drunk that he had to be taken to his room.
The following month, at an event in Cleveland, Hegseth went with his team to a bar near the hotel and became “completely inebriated in public,” and “several celebrities” who were in attendance also “saw the situation. I was very disappointed.” public action,” the report states.
The report also alleges that Mr. Hegseth (who was married to his second wife at the time), along with other members of his management team, sexually pursued female staff at CVA and ignored serious accusations of sexual assault and harassment. It said it created a hostile workplace.
And in a separate complaint sent to CVA in late 2015, another former employee said a drunken Hegseth chanted offensively, “Kill all Muslims!” Kill all Muslims! ” In the early morning hours of May 29, 2015, at a bar in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, while on duty with the state.
Mr. Hegseth's lawyer, Timothy Parlatore, told The New Yorker that Mr. Hegseth's “advisors” had been involved in “outlandish claims” laundered through publications by “narrow-minded, jealous and disgruntled former colleagues of Mr. Hegseth.” I'm not going to comment.” Contact us for your first foray into real journalism. ”
But Senate Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) told The New Yorker that Hegseth's drinking reports were alarming and disqualified him from serving as Pentagon chief. Ta.
“We may be sympathetic to people who have ongoing alcohol problems, but they shouldn't be at the top of the national security structure,” he said. “It's dangerous. The Secretary of Defense is involved in all matters of national security. He's involved in the use of nuclear weapons. He's the one who approves sending troops into combat. He's a civilian. Literally, life-and-death matters are in the hands of the Secretary of Defense, and anyone who could be incapacitated for any reason. Delegating the matter is a risk we cannot take.”
Hegseth also reportedly financially ruined the Veterans for Freedom (VFF) group.
In 2007, he became chairman of an organization that advocated expanding the Iraq war and was funded by several Republican billionaire donors. However, under Mr Hegseth's leadership, the organization reportedly ran into huge debts, with funds wasted on parties and other expenses.
VFF's finances became so strained that the group's donors arranged for it to merge with another organization that would take over most of its operations, effectively forcing Hegseth out in 2012.
The shocking report follows the recent discovery of an email sent in 2018 by Mr Hegseth's mother, Penelope Hegseth, in which she wrote about Mr Hegseth “belittling and lying”. He warned that he was a “woman abuser'' who harassed women, deceived them, slept with them, and used them for his own power and authority.'' ego. ”
“On behalf of all the women you have abused in any way (and I know there are many), I say…get help and take an honest look at yourself.” Penelope Hegseth wrote The text of the email, published by The New York Times, said it was addressed to her son.
Penelope Hegseth told the Times at the time that she sent a follow-up message apologizing for the email, claiming she sent the message “out of anger and emotion” because her son and wife were going through a divorce.
Hegseth has come under fire for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman in 2017, with a police report on the incident revealed last month. He denies the allegations of wrongdoing, but his lawyer acknowledged that Hegseth paid the woman to avoid litigation.
President Trump's choice of Hegseth to be the Pentagon's top civilian official had already shocked many in Washington, given his work as a former Fox News commentator and limited experience running an organization.
Hegseth also served in the Army National Guard while running a conservative veterans group.
He was an infantry officer in the Army National Guard from 2002 to 2021. After graduating from Princeton University in 2003, he served on tours to Guantanamo Bay, Iraq and Afghanistan, earning two Bronze Stars among other decorations.
