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Donald Trump’s transition team is said to be “upset” with Pete Hegseth because he “hasn’t been honest” about the sexual misconduct allegation from his past – prompting insiders to consider other options to lead the Pentagon.
Hegseth was tapped last week to become Trump’s defense secretary but now those in the president-elect’s inner circle are “quietly preparing a list of alternative” candidates, Vanity Fair reported.
“It’s becoming a real possibility,” a source told the outlet’s special correspondent Gabriel Sherman.
The source said that the Trump team was taken by surprise after a serious sexual assault allegation against Hegseth came to light, which led Trump’s incoming chief of staff Susie Wiles to question the former Fox News host on a call last week. Hegseth was never charged with a crime and denies the allegations.
“People are upset about the distraction. The general feeling is Pete hasn’t been honest,” a second source told Vanity Fair.
A “prominent Republican” close to the Trump transition team told the outlet that some are also unhappy with the president-elect’s choice due to Hegseth’s lack of qualifications to lead the nation’s defense.
“There are Republicans with a background in the Defense Department who are privately saying, ‘I’m not working for this guy,’” the source said.
Despite the uncertainty within the transition team, the president-elect is said to be standing by Hegseth for now.
Police investigated Hegseth for alleged sexual misconduct in Monterey, California in 2017. The Washington Post reported at the weekend that Hegseth paid the woman who accused him of sexual assault as part of a non-disclosure agreement. Despite the payment, he has maintained the encounter was consensual.
The Post, citing a statement from Hegseth’s attorney Timothy Parlatore, reported that Hegseth was “visibly intoxicated” when he encountered a woman in Monterey seven years ago. Parlatore said in this statement that the woman contacted the police, and they concluded, “the Complainant had been the aggressor in the encounter.” However, Monterey police did not confirm this to the Post.
Hegseth later agreed to pay the woman as part of an NDA because he was concerned he’d be fired by Fox News, the Post reported. The NDA and payment came after she threatened to litigate further in 2020, the Post reported, citing Hegseth’s attorney.
The Post also obtained a memo which was written by an unnamed individual — who claims to be a friend of the accuser — and sent to Trump’s presidential transition team. That memo claimed Hegseth raped a 30-year-old conservative group staffer in a hotel room in Monterey in 2017, the Post reported. Police investigated the incident but Hegseth never faced charges, the memo said.
Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung told the Post that Hegseth “vigorously denies” all wrongdoing.
“President Trump is nominating high-caliber and extremely qualified candidates to serve in his Administration,” Cheung said. “Mr. Hegseth has vigorously denied any and all accusations, and no charges were filed. We look forward to his confirmation as United States Secretary of Defense so he can get started on Day One to Make America Safe and Great Again.”
Meanwhile, the former Fox News host’s lawyer told the Post that “Hegseth strongly felt that he was the victim of blackmail and innocent collateral damage in a lie that the Complainant was holding onto to keep her marriage intact.”
The controversy surrounding Hegseth comes as Trump also faces an uphill climb to confirm Matt Gaetz as his attorney general as he is also fighting serious sexual allegations, which he denies.
Donald Trump Jr, who is helping with transition efforts, has suggested that his father has “backup plans” if his cabinet picks aren’t confirmed by the Senate.
“Listen, there’s always ideas,” Don Jr told Fox’s Sunday Morning Futures host Maria Bartiromo on Sunday. “We have lists of people. We’re not just randomly picking a name out of a hat. We’re showing him lists of 10 to 12 people for every position. So we do have backup plans.”
“We are obviously going with the strongest candidates first,” he continued. “Some of them are going to be controversial. They are controversial because they’ll actually get things done.”
