Hegseth’s Defense: Deny, Blame And Shrug

Sex assault allegations? Blame “left-wing” media.

Issues with drinking? Those are anonymous smears.

No women in combat? That’s not what I said.

Pete Hegseth used a pattern of denials, memory holes and attacking the “left-wing” media at his Tuesday confirmation hearing for Pentagon chief as he sought to counter controversial issues in his past. And that strategy may work for him — along with Donald Trump’s other troubled nominees.

The president-elect’s Defense secretary pick brushed off questions he didn’t want to answer about everything from the possibility of Trump issuing illegal orders to alleged financial mismanagement in his previous management jobs. He said mainstream news outlets were the reason that allegations of sexual assault and reports of excessive drinking came to light. And he carefully reversed himself on previous comments disapproving of women in combat and gay people in the military.

“All anonymous, all false,” Hegseth told the Senate Armed Services Committee when Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) asked about his past drinking and alleged inappropriate behavior toward women.

This was the first in a spate of upcoming confirmation hearings for Trump’s controversial nominees, which include Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for Health and Human Services chief and Kash Patel for head of the FBI. But Tuesday may have given them a playbook for success.

Democrats came to the hearing with plenty of ammunition drawn from Hegseth’s own writings and remarks, as well as accusations from former colleagues over alleged financial mismanagement and a cash settlement paid out to a woman who accused Hegseth of sexual assault in a hotel in 2017.

It’s not clear that it mattered. Democrats need at least one Republican to sink Hegseth’s confirmation and GOP committee members appeared united in their support.

Hegseth — who occasionally spoke over Democratic senators — rejected the accusations and pleaded ignorance about any nondisclosure agreement with the woman who said he assaulted her. Instead, he put the blame on the news media.

“Our left-wing media in America today, sadly, doesn’t care about the truth,” he said. “All they were out to do was to destroy me because I’m a change agent and a threat to them. Despite the attacks, I stand committed to the truth and our warfighters.”

The Fox News host and Army veteran claimed he did not know if he had nondisclosure agreements with his two ex-wives. He refused to answer Sen. Tammy Duckworth’s question about whether he had ever conducted a financial audit of the veterans organizations he once ran, given his insistence that the Pentagon undergo a deep-dive audit.

“You say you had issues in your past but it’s clear to me you're not being honest with us or the American people,” Kelly said.

He maintained his cool, even as lawmakers rattled off details of his extramarital affairs.

Hegseth and his lawyer have said the 2017 encounter in the hotel was consensual, but he refused to make that claim under questioning by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.).

“I was falsely charged, fully investigated and completely cleared,” he said.

Other times he appeared almost contrite. He repeatedly said he’s a changed man. “I have failed at things in my life," he said, “and I am redeemed by my Lord and savior, Jesus Christ.”

Republicans quickly came to Hegseth’s defense. Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), a close Trump ally, flipped the attack on Democrats and accused them of hypocrisy.

“How many senators have shown up drunk to vote at night?” Mullin asked. “Have any of you guys asked them to step down and resign from their job? And then how many senators do you know [who] have gotten a divorce for cheating on their wives? Did you ask them to step down? No.”

Democrats hit hardest on Hegseth's past criticism about women serving in the military.

“You have to change how you see women to do this job well, and I don’t know that you can,” said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.).

While Hegseth has rejected the idea of females serving in combat roles in past books and interviews, on Tuesday he offered a carefully worded about-face.

The expected nominee said he supports women serving in the military but wants to ensure the standards are not lowered for women recruits. “Writing a book is different than being secretary of Defense,” he said.

But the strategy wasn’t completely airtight. Democrats landed a few punches as the hearing dragged into its third hour.

Kaine tore into Hegseth for the 2017 incident in which the former TV host was accused of sexually assaulting a woman while he was still married to his second wife and his now current wife had just given birth. Hegseth said he was falsely accused and cleared of the investigation.

“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 were ‘completely cleared?’” Kaine said.

Hegseth replied, “I sit here before you, an open book.”

Kaine shot back: “With multiple nondisclosure and confidentiality agreements tying the hands of many people who would like to comment to us.”