During a wild and tense exchange on Tuesday, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) spent nearly 10 minutes hammering an evasive Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth for cheating on his past wives and engaging in drunken behavior on the job.
Tuesday’s chaotic confirmation hearing came amid allegations that Hegseth sexually assaulted a woman in 2017. The former Fox News star has repeatedly denied the accusations and claimed he’s been “completely cleared,” insisting at the top of the hearing that the allegations were part of a “coordinated smear campaign” by the “left-wing media” who wants to “destroy” him.
After Donald Trump shockingly nominated the Fox & Friends Weekend host to lead the Pentagon in November, it was reported that Hegseth had been criminally investigated in 2017 for raping a woman in California. While police in Monterey did not charge Hegseth with a crime after an investigation, he ended up paying the woman a confidential settlement in 2020 to avoid a lawsuit. Hegseth has also insisted that the encounter was consensual and that the woman was the “aggressor.”
Besides the claims of sexual misconduct, Hegseth has come under fire over multiple reports about his excessive drinking both as a Fox News host and as the leader of two veteran advocacy groups. Hegseth has dismissed these allegations as coming from “anonymous” sources and has pledged to remain sober if confirmed as defense secretary.
Taking the opportunity on Tuesday to grill the former Fox morning host on the accusations about his behavior, Kaine made a point of noting that whether or not Hegseth was guilty of sexual assault, he had repeatedly engaged in marital infidelity over the years.
“I want to return to the incident that you referenced a minute ago that occurred in Monterey, California, in October 2017,” Kaine declared. “At that time, you were still married to your second wife, correct? … And you had just fathered a child by a woman who would later become your third wife, correct?”
The Virginia lawmaker was referring to the fact that at the time of the California incident, Hegseth was carrying out an extramarital affair with Jennifer Rauchet, then a Fox News producer. Rauchet had Hegseth’s child while he was still married to his second wife, whom he would later divorce. Hegseth went on to marry Rauchet, who left Fox News, and they had two more children.
“Senator, I was falsely charged! Fully investigated and completely cleared,” Hegseth exclaimed.
Kaine, however, wondered how Hegseth could say he was “completely cleared” just because law enforcement decided not to issue criminal charges.
“That’s your definition of cleared?! You had just fathered a child two months before by a woman that was not your wife,” the senator proclaimed. “I am shocked that you would stand here and say you are completely cleared. Can you so casually cheat on a second wife and cheat on the mother of a child who had been born two months before? And you tell us you are completely cleared. So how is that completely cleared?”
While Hegseth interjected and invoked the name of his daughter, noting “she’s a child of God,” Kaine reiterated that the ex-Fox star had “cheated on the mother of that child” shortly after her birth.
“Those were false charges,” Hegseth shot back. “Totally investigated. And I was completely cleared. And I’m so grateful for the marriage I have to this day.”
In fact, this would be Hegseth’s refrain for much of the exchange as Kaine pressed him on his infidelity. Saying that he was the victim of “false charges,” Hegseth dodged and deflected the questions about his repeated cheating on his past and current spouses. Kaine, on the other hand, would point out that Hegseth initially hid the allegations from the Trump team because he was worried it would damage his nomination.
“If it had been a sexual assault, that would be disqualifying to be secretary of defense, wouldn‘t it?” Kaine asked at one point, prompting Hegseth to once again declare “that was a false claim.” At the same time, Hegseth grumbled that it was a “hypothetical” that the senator was asking about.
“So you can‘t tell me whether someone who has committed a sexual assault is disqualified from being secretary of defense?” Kaine fired back.
A squirming Hegseth also complained about the “hypothetical” scenario brought up by Kaine on whether it would be “disqualifying” for a secretary of defense to “commit physical violence” against a spouse.
“I don‘t think it‘s a hypothetical,” Kaine replied. “Violence against spouses occurs every day. And if you, as a leader are not capable of saying that physical violence against a spouse should be a disqualifying fact for being secretary of the most powerful nation in the world, you‘re demonstrating an astonishing lack of judgment.”
Eventually, Kaine moved on to allegations about Hegseth’s excessive drinking, noting that there had been multiple disclosures made by Hegseth’s former colleagues about his boorish behavior, specifically at the veteran’s organizations that he previously led.
“Senator, those are all anonymous false claims,” Hegseth objected.
After Kaine pointed out that many of the allegations came from a whistleblower report about Hegseth’s tenure as the chief of Concerned Veterans for America, the former Fox News host once more griped about the “anonymous false charges” made against him. The Virginia lawmaker, however, was prepared for this response.
“You claim that this was all anonymous. We have seen records with names attached to all of these, including the name of your own mother,” Kaine concluded, referring to an email Hegseth’s mother sent about her son’s “abusive” behavior.
“So don‘t make this into some anonymous press thing,” the senator added. “We have seen multiple names of colleagues consistently throughout your career that have talked about your abusive actions.”
