Pete Hegseth - Trump's Worst Cabinet Pick

Pete Hegseth might be the most dangerous pick for Donald J. Trump's new cabinet.

Since Donald J. Trump narrowly won the presidential election, he’s made a number of alarming picks for his next cabinet including Pete Hegseth for secretary of defense.

Until recently Hegseth was one of the co-hosts of “Fox & Friends Weekend.” He also produced several series for Fox Nation, the streaming platform for Fox News.

The secretary of the Department of Defense (DoD) oversees the Defense Department and acts as the principal defense policymaker and adviser.

Although Hegseth is a decorated combat veteran, he lacks any experience running an organization close to the size of the DoD. The DoD employs over 2 million active duty service members and more than 770,000 civilians.

The last budget request for the DoD was $842 billion, an increase of $26 billion from the budget for fiscal year 2023. The department also manages over $200 billion in defense contractor agreements.

The U.S. military has approximately 750 bases scattered around the world in 80 countries on every continent. The number is an estimate due to the fact that the Pentagon doesn’t release information about all of its bases.

Hegseth is massively under qualified to lead the largest military in the world. By contrast Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III, is a former Commander of U.S. Central Command where he was responsible for all military operations in the Middle East and Afghanistan.

His predecessor, Mark Esper, served as the deputy assistant secretary of defense for negotiations policy at the Pentagon and was the secretary of the Army before Trump nominated him to be secretary of defense.

The first sign that Trump would pick Hegseth to run the DoD was during an interview from Trump’s National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey on “Fox & Friends Weekend,” on June 2, 2024.

Hegseth asked Trump a question from a viewer.

“Laura from Nebraska said, I'm the mother of two army officers. What are you going to do to rebuild our military? And I would add to that, rip out the woke stuff that's happening. That all of the service members in the military see is embedded in our Pentagon right now,” said Hegseth.

“You know the military better than anybody. I put him (gesturing to Hegseth) in charge, I really would. I often think of it. I talked to him about it a little bit. We talked about the VA. We ended up doing. The show has to do worse if the show does worse. If I see the ratings go down. I'm going to steal them. I'll steal all of you, frankly. But, No, he would be unbelievable at defense. He would be unbelievable at defense or at the V.A.. The VA was. They did a good job, though. They ended up doing a good job. You know,” said Trump.

For this profile of Pete Hegseth, I reference over 30 articles from various news sources, several hours of content Hegseth produced for Fox Nation, interviews with podcasters Shawn Ryan, and Megyn Kelly. I also cite old media clips from my archives for Decoding Fox News.

I also reference Hegseth’s most recent book, “The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of The Men Who Keep Us Free,” where he critiques the current state of the U.S. military.

This profile is organized by category with hyperlinks to every source I could make available for my readers.

Hegseth’s Chaotic and Unstable Personal Life

Pete Hegseth’s first marriage was to Meredith Schwarz, a woman he started dating his freshman year in high school. They married in 2004 but divorced in 2009 after Hegseth admitted to multiple infidelities during the marriage.

In 2010 Hegseth married Samantha Deering who he was dating while he was still married to Schwarz. The couple met while they both worked for the nonprofit Vets for Freedom (VFF). Hegseth admitted in an essay that he had “fathered a child out of wedlock,” before marrying her.

Hegseth was later asked to leave the organization due to financial mismanagement and excessive drinking according to a whistle-blower report from 2015 obtained by “The New Yorker.” The couple had three children together.

While still married to Deering Hegseth fathered a child with Jennifer Rauchet a producer at “Fox & Friends.” Rauchet was also married at the time of the extramarital affair and the mother of three young children.

Hegseth has a pattern of getting romantically involved with women he works with which could make him an easy target for blackmail by a hostile foreign power.

His Mother Criticized Him in an email

In 2018, during the process of Hegseth’s second contentious divorce his mother, Penelope Hegseth, sent him a harsh email criticizing her son’s behavior. The NY Times published the email on November 29, 2024.

“I have no respect for any man that belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around and uses women for his own power and ego. You are that man (and have been for years) and as your mother, it pains me and embarrasses me to say that, but it is the sad, sad truth.”

“For you to try to label her as ‘unstable’ for your own advantage is despicable and abusive. Is there any sense of decency left in you?”

“She did not ask for or deserve any of what has come to her by your hand,” she said. “Neither did Meredith,” Mrs. Hegseth added, referring to his first wife.

She told The NY Times that she immediately regretted sending the email and sent a follow-up email where she apologized to him.

The NY Times obtained the email from an undisclosed person with ties to the Hegseth family. The paper did not receive Hegseth's mother’s follow-up apologetic email to her son.

Pete Hegseth’s Mom Advocated for Her Son on “Fox & Friends”

On December 4, 2024, Penelope Hegseth, appeared on “Fox & Friends, to explain her email from 2018 and to advocate for her 44-year-old son. The segment was almost 18 minutes long or nearly half the broadcast time for “Fox & Friends,” without commercial breaks.

Mrs. Hegseth claimed The NY Times “threatened” her multiple times. Hegseth appears to have a misunderstanding about how the press operates.

According to Hegseth the paper contacted her and told her that they would publish her email. They asked her for an additional comment. After she spoke to The New York Times the paper published the email that was given to them by a third party.

That is not a threat. The New York Times was well within its rights to publish her email. When asked about what she thought about The New York Times Hegseth answered,

“I don't think the way you operate is it feels almost criminal, when reporters call you and threaten you. I don't think a lot of people know that's the way they operate. And, they they are in it for the commission, for the money. And they don't care who they hurt. Families, children. And, I just I don't believe that that is the right way to do things.”

Journalists at The New York Times are either salaried employees or paid a set rate for an article as a freelancer they do not work for commissions.

Mrs. Hegseth expectedly spoke fondly about her son and her family’s Christian faith. She also shared her insight on how Fox News helped train her son to lead the Pentagon.

“I think being a TV news host. I think prepares you for most things in a position like this. You're a good communicator. You have to think on your feet. You take charge. So, I think everybody should do a year with Fox. There you go,” said Hegseth.

A Woman Accused Pete Hegseth of Rape

In 2017 a woman accused Hegseth of raping her after he spoke at a convention for California Federation of Republican Women in Monterey, California. Hegseth has insisted that the sexual encounter was consensual.

At the time of the alleged sexual assault Hegseth’s second wife had just filed for divorce. The woman he was dating at the time, who would go on to be his third wife, had just has his baby two months prior.

The alleged victim has remained anonymous and is referred to as ‘Jane Doe’ throughout the 22-pages of documents related to the police investigation of the alleged sexual assault.

The 30-year-old woman was hired by the company running the convention to help keep Hegseth on time for his various appearances and a 90-minute drive back to the airport to catch his flight home. According to Doe two women texted her saying Hegseth was being sexually aggressive towards them at the hotel bar.

Several witnesses also confirmed Hegseth’s sexually aggressive behavior in the police report about the alleged attack. Doe went to the bar to attempt to control Hegseth’s behavior.

An un-named woman at that bar told investigators she thought Doe was trying to protect other women from Hegseth’s unwanted sexual advances. She also told police Hegseth acted sexually aggressive towards Doe and other women. Another conference attendee told police she thought Doe and another woman were flirting with Hegseth.

After Doe and Hegseth left the bar area, they ended up near the hotel pool where witnesses said the two had a loud argument over Hegseth’s treatment of women. The police report also included a description of video surveillance footage that showed Hegseth and Doe leaving the bar with their arms locked together.

In the report a hotel staffer described Hegseth as being “very intoxicated,” during the incident at the pool. The same employee said Doe appeared “not intoxicated.”

According to reporting by The Washington Post, “Doe” recalled Hegseth telling her that he was a “nice guy,” officers wrote. Her next memory was being in an unknown room with Hegseth, according to the police report. She stated that Hegseth then “took her phone from her hands” and blocked the door, according to the documents.

“Jane Doe remembered saying ‘no’ a lot,” the report said.

Doe consumed “much more” alcohol than normal that day, she told authorities, and much of the encounter with Hegseth occurred after things became “fuzzy,” she said, according to the documents.

Doe was also traveling with her husband and small children at the time of the alleged attack and according to reporting by The New Yorker she was sending her husband text messages during the entire encounter mocking Hegseth.

Four days after the alleged attack, Doe decided to go to a hospital to undergo a rape kit exam, after she had frightening flashback from the alleged attack. At the hospital she provided the clothing she was wearing on the night of the alleged assault. The hospital nurse reported the alleged attack to police. The police report also included that Doe suffered bruising to her right thigh.

During the investigation Doe said she thought she might have been slipped something (a drug) the night of the alleged attack but no drugs were found in her system.

The police report does not indicate if investigators asked Doe about her suspicion that she may have been drugged.

One of the most common drugs used during sexual assaults, GHB, or gamma-hydroxybutyrate, also known as the date rape drug, can only be detected in a person’s bloodstream for 12 hours after last use.

After the police investigation Hegseth was not charged with any crime.

Hegseth Paid an Undisclosed Settlement to “Jane Doe”

Roughly two and a half years after the alleged sexual assault Doe and her husband hired a lawyer and threatened to sue Hegseth in civil court. The parties agreed to an undisclosed settlement.

Doe signed a non-disclosure agreement which prevents her from going public with her allegations against Hegseth.

Hegseth did not reveal the sexual assault allegation, the cash settlement or the nondisclosure agreement to Trump’s transition team.

The story was leaked to the press when a woman associated with Doe sent a detailed memo about the alleged attack and settlement to the Trump transition team. The Washington Post obtained a copy of the memo.

Hegseth Discussed the Rape Allegation with Megyn Kelly

Hegseth appeared on “The Megyn Kelly Show,” on December 4, 2024, where he discussed his nomination and what he called a media smear campaign against him.

When Kelly asked Hegseth about the accusation she implied that she found information in the police report that had not been reported by other media outlets.

“We found out from the police report certain exonerating details which none of the media will report. Like you said, it was consensual. There was no drug, and she wasn't. She wasn't drugged in any way. And she's on camera looking totally fine, according to the police, according to eyewitnesses, and according to her own husband, to whose room she returned at 4 a.m.,” said Kelly.

Kelly is incorrect. She did not reveal anything in her interview with Hegseth that was not previously published by another media outlet.

The first article about the sexual assault allegation was published exclusively by The Washington Post on November 16, 2024. The Washington Post also published an article about the police report, which included every detail Kelly spoke about with Hegseth, on Nov. 21, 2024. The New York Times included details from the police report on Nov. 20, 2024. CNN published an article with details from the report on Nov. 21, 2024.

None of these publications withheld information from the report.

Hegseth made the same implication about how the press handled the police report. .

“Our team is benefiting from more information. So, we always want more information coming out of this, because the more information that comes out, the more people realize what this actually was. And, ultimately, you know, it's never fun to have your name. All they want is your name in the headline with that allegation. That's all they want. And then once they do that, they run with it. They don't care about all the details that you just pointed out,” said Hegseth.

Kelly repeated her false claim that other press outlets left out information that would benefit Hegseth in their reporting of the incident.

“And when they summarize the case in the secondary reporting, they never include any of the exonerating details,” said Kelly.