Following a slew of allegations about excessive drinking, financial mismanagement and mistreatment of women, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, returned to Capitol Hill on Thursday to try to secure the support of senators who will decide whether to confirm him.
His visit followed Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, a U.S. Army veteran and sexual assault survivor, revealing on Fox News Thursday morning that she has not yet decided whether to support Hegseth.
Hegseth has denied any wrongdoing amid the flurry of allegations, including a woman’s accusation that he raped her in a Monterey, California, hotel room in 2017. (That accusation is detailed in a 2017 report by the Monterey Police Department that has been made publicly available in recent weeks.) Hegseth says the incident was consensual, though he paid the woman an undisclosed amount as part of a settlement agreement. Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine Pacioni has said her office declined to file charges at the time because “no charges were supported by proof beyond a reasonable doubt.”
While Ernst remains committed to a “very thorough vetting process,” others have drawn their own line in the sand as to what information should — and should not — be considered.
To discount serious allegations simply because the sources were granted anonymity is misguided.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., for one, told Fox News‘ Sean Hannity on Wednesday: “The allegations against Pete are anonymous sources. I’m not going to make any decisions based on an anonymous source. If you’re not willing to raise your hand under oath and make the accusation, it doesn’t count. I’ve heard everything about all of these people. None of it counts. No rumors, no innuendo.”
When Hannity responded that Graham, a longtime member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, participated in the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Graham smiled. “I’ve seen this movie before,” he said, appearing to ignore the extensive, voluntary public testimony during the Kavanaugh hearings from Christine Blasey Ford, who accused him of sexually assaulting her when they were in high school in the 1980s. (Kavanaugh has repeatedly denied the allegation.)
Graham doubled down on that position later Thursday, posting a clip of his Fox News conversation with a caption that ended with: “Anonymous sources don’t count.”
And his position has been echoed by Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, who decried the unwillingness of anonymous sources to appear on cable news
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