Trump considers replacing Hegseth following slew of controversies

WASHINGTON: United States president-elect Donald Trump is considering Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as a replacement for the current defence secretary pick, Pete Hegseth, according to the Wall Street Journal. The worry from within the Trump team came after a slew of allegations against Hegseth came to light over the past month.

DeSantis was on the list of possible defence secretary candidates before Trump chose Hegseth, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump’s allies are beginning to believe that Hegseth’s nomination may crumble as allegations about his conduct, in both professional and personal settings, are scrutinized. The accusations span multiple years, and include a sexual assault allegation in 2017, sexual impropriety during his time heading two non-profit advocacy groups, and financial mismanagement. Even Hegseth’s own mother described her son as an “abuser of women”.

Were Hegseth to drop out, it would be the third pick from the president-elect to fail, as Matt Gaetz withdrew his nomination for attorney general following allegations of sexual relations with a minor, and Chad Chronister withdrew from consideration to head the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

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RAPE ACCUSATION

In November of this year, a 22-page report detailing an investigation into an alleged sexual assault by Hegseth in 2017, was released. The alleged victim of the assault, identified as Jane Doe, claimed that Hegseth had raped her following a Republican women’s convention in Monterey, California. Doe claimed that her next memory following an altercation at a bar, in which the victim apprised Hegseth of his inappropriate behaviour towards women at the conference, was being in an unknown room with the Fox and Friends co-host. Shortly after she remembers Hegseth over here bare-chested, as she repeatedly said “no” during the incident.

Doe’s account is in stark contrast to Hegseth’s, who claims that the encounter was completely consensual and that he checked multiple times with Doe whether she was comfortable with what was going on. He also claims that Doe “showed early sign of regret,” according to the investigation report. Witnesses of the incident, including other attendees of the conference, claim that Doe was very coherehtn during the evening, while Hegseth was very intoxicated. Another witness, a night audit employee who attented to a reported disturbance, caused by the aforementioned altercation, states that Hegseth was very intoxicated, and began to curse at him, while Doe was “standing on her own and was very coherent.” However, Hegseth claims to have no memory of this incident.

Hegseth made a payment to Doe as part of a confidential settlement years prior due to fears that the allegation could result in him being fired from Fox News. His lawyer stated that Hegseth “was falsely accused” and that he was “the victim of blackmail.

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VETERAN’S ORGANISATIONS

The most recent allegations centred around Hegseth’s departure from the non-profit advocacy groups, Veterans for Freedom and Concerned Veterans for America. Hegseth was allegedly repeatedly intoxicated while acting as the president for the later group, a whistle-blower report claimed. The same report alleges that Hegseth, and other co-workers of his, pursued the staffers of a Louisiana strip club and at one point the current defence secretary nominee had to be restrained while attempting to join dancers on the stage.

Other accusations within the report include ignoring accusations of sexual assault, as a female employee on Hegseth’s staff claimed that one of her co-workers attempted to sexually assault her at the aforementioned club. In a separate incident, a staff member of Hegseth’s organisation, alleges to have seen the former Fox and Friends host intoxicated at a bar in Ohio chanting “kill all Muslims!”

The report also claims that Hegseth was so intoxicated during multiple organisations events that he needed to be carried out.

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HEGSETH’S MOTHER

The New York Times released an email from Hegseth’s mother that was sent to the defence secretary pick in the midst of his divorce from his wife, Samantha.

“You are an abuser of women – that is the ugly truth,” Penelope Hegseth wrote, adding that “I have no respect for any man that belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around, and uses women for his own power and ego.” She goes on to add dishonestly, betrayal, and debasing to the list of illicit behaviours.

The email then details Hegseth’s attempts to discredit his ex-wife by calling her “unstable”, while also making mention of Hegseth’s first wife, Meredith.

The email ends with Penelope pleading to her some to get help. “On behalf of all the women (and I know it’s many) you have abused in some way, I say… get some help and take an honest look at yourself.”

Following the email’s release, Penelope told the New York Times that the she apologised in a separate email, and now defends her son and claims that the email she wrote misrepresented him. In regards to her claims of Hegseth’s improper treatment of women, she stated that such “has never been true.”

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FOX NEWS

NBC News reported that multiple Fox News employees claimed that Hegseth “drank in ways that concerned his colleagues at Fox News.” A couple of the employees claimed that they could smell alcohol on him before they went on air, and also alleged that Hegseth had talked about being hungover while on set.