Tipsheet

Why the Latest Pete Hegseth Character Assassination Attempt Lasted About Two Seconds

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  January 21, 2025 10:30 PM

Pete Hegseth’s nomination to be the next secretary of defense would be a partisan vote, advancing to the Senate on a 14-13 vote from the Armed Services Committee. The Democrats failed to derail one of President Trump’s top picks, but that doesn’t mean there will be Hail Mary attempts to stop Hegseth. We have another character assassination attempt at the zero hour, where the ex-wife of Hegseth’s brother alleges a bunch of nonsense that’s so laughable it’s not worthy of being mentioned. Read the NBC News article, but notice how they bury the most important part of the story [emphasis mine]:

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.” 

[…] 

Danielle describes in the affidavit allegations of volatile and threatening conduct by Hegseth that made his second wife, Samantha Hegseth, fear for her safety. Among the allegations are that Samantha hid in a closet once from Hegseth, that she developed escape plans for use “if she felt she needed to get away from Hegseth” that would be activated with a code word and that she did once put the escape plans into action. 

At least 15 senators — including multiple Republicans — had reviewed the affidavit as of 2:30 p.m. ET, according to a Senate staffer. 

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.   

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.”

Hegseth’s ex-wife denied everything here, so there’s no story. It’s yet another fake news attack. Even worse, it’s not even a story. Hegseth’s brother’s ex-wife alleges some trash, which the former Mrs. Hegseth denies. That alone should have kept this fake story in a drawer until something more concrete dropped.  

CNN already lost a defamation suit. Is NBC News next? 

Also, what does this mean?

Danielle Hegseth says in the affidavit, a redacted copy of which has been reviewed by NBC News, “I have chosen to come forward publicly, at significant personal sacrifice, because I am deeply concerned by what Hegseth’s confirmation would mean for our military and our country.” 

She adds that part of her reason for coming forward is “because I have been assured that making this public statement will ensure that certain Senators who are still on the fence will vote against Hegseth’s confirmation. But for that assurance I would not subject myself or others referred to in this statement to the public scrutiny this statement is likely to cause.”