With Pete Hegseth’s confirmation as Secretary of Defense becoming all but certain leading up to President Donald Trump’s inauguration, the attempt to Brett Kavanaugh him is now underway.
On Tuesday night, NBC News released a hit piece accusing Hegseth of abusing his second wife, causing her to “fear for her life.” Other press outlets immediately followed suit with similar reports, citing an affidavit submitted by his former sister-in-law.
NEW — Senators received an affidavit Tuesday from the former sister-in-law of defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth in which she says his behavior caused his second wife to fear for her safety. https://t.co/3vjm0vmbcC by @news_jul @S_Fitzpatrick @ckubeNBC
— Amanda Terkel (@aterkel) January 21, 2025
NEW: Pete Hegseth’s former sister-in-law said that his ex-wife feared for her safety. The defense secretary nominee denies the claims. https://t.co/rX3HGSh7WF
— Axios (@axios) January 21, 2025
Breaking News: Pete Hegseth’s former sister-in-law made a sworn statement to senators that the secretary of defense nominee was abusive toward his second wife. https://t.co/BF46cbid1C
— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 21, 2025
On the surface, this seems serious. After all, there’s an on-record source making the claim, which is a step up from most press allegations these days. Surely, this is going to sink Hegseth’s nomination, right?
There’s just one problem: Hegseth’s second wife, the one supposedly abused, is unequivocally denying the allegations and threatening to get her lawyer involved.
How do you run that story with a straight face? pic.twitter.com/58DkgSTWlF
— JD Vance (@JDVance) January 21, 2025
But while NBC News did bother to mention the above exonerating information despite conveniently leaving it out of their headline and social media posts on the story, Politico just omitted that detail altogether.
Weird how Politico doesn’t mention in their newsletter the key fact that Hegseth’s ex wife is on the record in the story DENYING these BS smears. Why would you leave that fact out of your newsletter unless you’re trying to be purposely dishonest? Journalistically indefensible. pic.twitter.com/1pZ7ze1k7u
— Andrew Surabian (@Surabees) January 21, 2025