All eyes are on Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary Pete Hegseth after Matt Gaetz stunningly withdrew his name from consideration to be attorney general after new underage sex claims.
Gaetz’s withdrawal puts more pressure on Hegseth, who is battling his own sordid sexual assault allegations that are putting a damper on his confirmation process.
Hegseth and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance are on Capitol Hill Thursday to meet with senators on the fence about the nominee.
He has to win over a majority of senators in order to get confirmed, so he cannot afford to lose more than two GOP votes.
Republicans took the majority in the Senate after the election, giving them a 53-47 edge over Democrats.
But moderate Republicans Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska could be difficult to convince to put aside the allegations.
Hegseth is facing an uphill confirmation battle after it came to light that he was investigated for an alleged sexual assault in 2017, even though no charges were filed.
His lawyer admitted that Hegseth paid off the woman involved in exchange for her silence and shocking new details about the incident have emerged in a scathing police report.
Hegseth broke his silence on the report, telling reporters in the Senate Thursday that the ‘matter was fully investigated and I was completely cleared.’
‘That’s where I’m gonna leave it,’ he said before walking away before meeting with more Republican senators who will vote on his nomination.
Hegseth, a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan with a handful of military medals, including two Bronze Stars, is a controversial pick to lead the Defense Department.
Many have questioned whether the 44-year-old former co-host of Fox & Friends Weekends can handle managing the Pentagon with an over $800 billion budget.
But Trump has confidence in Hegseth, who he’s called a ‘courageous and patriotic,’ and current service members have told DailyMail.com they think his leadership will be a welcome change at the sprawling agency.
Hegseth himself has admitted to Republicans this week that he is facing a ‘battle’ that is ‘just beginning,’ and he’s relying on prayer to help get him through the ‘attacks and onslaughts.’
Top Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming met with Hegseth Thursday morning, calling him a ‘strong nominee.’
‘We had an excellent discussion about the need for America’s military to remain the best in the world,’ he said in a statement to DailyMail.com.
‘That means taking care of our service members, equipping them with the latest technology, and focusing on making our military the most lethal force on the planet. Pete pledged that the Pentagon will focus on strength and hard power – not the current administration’s woke political agenda.’
‘National security nominations have a history of quick confirmations in the Senate. I look forward to Pete’s hearing and a vote on the floor in January.’
Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., said he had an ‘outstanding’ meeting with Hegseth and Vance on Thursday.
‘Pete knows that the Defense Secretary’s job is to empower the men and women of our military to carry out their patriotic duty, not consign them to serve as political pawns in a broken Washington.’
He told reporters afterward: ‘I’m saddened by the attacks coming Pete’s way.’
Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., was asked by the press about the allegations into Hegseth, which he brushed off.
Wicker said he’s focused on discussing ‘military readiness’ instead.
Hegseth will need a majority of the GOP-led Senate to succeed in a confirmation vote.
The alleged incident at the center of Hegseth’s controversy took place in the early morning hours of Oct. 8, 2017, at the address of the Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel and Spa in Monterey, California, the city said in a statement.
The police department investigated ‘an alleged sexual assault’ involving Hegseth, a former Fox New host and Army National Guard veteran, that was reported four days later, according to the statement.
No weapons were involved, according to the statement, but there were injuries – ‘contusions to right thigh.’
No further details were released and the city said it would not release the full police report, noting it was exempt from public disclosure. The statement did not say what happened to the investigation.
Hegseth, who was divorced from his second wife at the time of the alleged incident, has not been charged in any criminal case or named as a defendant in any civil lawsuit.
Timothy Parlatore, a lawyer representing Hegseth, told news outlets: ‘This statement confirms that although an allegation was made, it was fully investigated and no charges were filed.’
He also admitted to the Washington Post that his client paid the woman for her silence.
He said Hegseth paid her an undisclosed amount because he feared the allegation getting out ‘would result in his immediate termination from Fox.’
Parlatore said Hegseth was drunk and claimed the woman was ‘the aggressor in the encounter,’ which police did not agree with.
And President-elect Trump is standing by his nominee, his staff said.
‘Mr. Hegseth has vigorously denied any and all accusations, and no charges were filed,’ Trump communications director Steven Cheung has said.
‘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.’
A complaint from an unnamed woman with extensive knowledge of the alleged rape sent to Trump’s staff explained the story police were told at the time.
Hegseth was a speaker at the California Federation of Republican Women conference at the Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel and Spa the day of the alleged rape.
He joined other guests at the hotel bar afterwards along with the woman, who was staying at the hotel with her husband and young children.
Part of her job for the conference was to make sure Hegseth got out of bed the next morning in time to catch his flight home.
At some point that night, she got texts from two women at the bar saying Hegseth ‘was getting pushy about his interest in taking them upstairs to his room,’ it was claimed.
She allegedly came over and talked to them, and when they left she ‘remembered sensing that Hegseth was irritated’.
