Pete Hegseth (right) at the heart of a confirmation storm (ABC)
Democrats in the U.S. Senate are pointing to gaps in information provided by the FBI on at least one of Donald Trump's most controversial nominees to a cabinet position. One senator is flat-out calling it a cover-up of damaging information about Pete Hegseth, Trump's nominee to head the Department of Defense. Hegseth and other nominees are expected to undergo confirmation hearings this week. The New York Times (NYT) and Raw Story (RS) have a joint report under the headline "'Appearance of a cover-up': Senate Dem raises alarm over missing FBI info on Trump nominee." Tom Boggioni writes:
Multiple Democratic senators are pointing with alarm at what they believe are gaps in information provided by the FBI on one of Donald Trump's most controversial Cabinet nominees.
According to a report from The New York Times, the slim information provided on Fox News personality Pete Hegseth , chosen to be the president-elect's secretary of defense, does not include examinations of information they have been provided directly.
Hegseth is facing a slew of questions over accusations of sexual assault , excessive drinking and financial improprieties while heading up several veterans organizations.
From a report by The NYT's Karoun Demirjian:
The top members of the Senate Armed Services Committee were briefed late Friday afternoon (1/10/25) on the findings from the F.B.I.’s background check of Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald J. Trump’s pick to serve as defense secretary, according to two people aware of the briefings.
Senator Roger Wicker, Republican of Mississippi and the chairman of the armed services panel, and Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, its top Democrat, each huddled separately with transition team officials on Friday for more than an hour, according to a person familiar with the briefings, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive proceedings. The transition team commissioned the background check.
It is traditional for only the chair and ranking member of panels on the findings from an F.B.I. background check of Cabinet nominees. During the sessions, the senators were able to review the findings and ask questions about them, but were not given copies of a report to share with their colleagues.
Since the results of the F.B.I.’s probe have not been shown to other members of the committee, several Democrats on the panel expressed concerns that they might not have relevant information for Mr. Hegseth’s confirmation hearing on Tuesday (1/14/25).
With only days to go before Mr. Hegseth’s confirmation hearing, it appears increasingly unlikely that other senators on the panel will be shown that information before querying him about his fitness to run the Pentagon.
Rank-and-file Democrats have been up in arms about the lack of access, saying it is necessary for them to review the F.B.I.’s findings.
“I need to see his F.B.I. background check, we need to see his financial disclosures,” Senator Tammy Duckworth, Democrat of Illinois, said. “And we need to know about any other potential lawsuits he might be facing, any other allegations he might be facing.”
Public reports have documented accusations that Mr. Hegseth committed sexual assault, mismanaged the veterans’ nonprofits he ran and was frequently publicly intoxicated. Mr. Hegseth has said that the sexual assault allegation arose from a consensual encounter. He also told reporters last month that he was “a different man than I was years ago,” describing his evolution as “a redemption story.”
According to The NYT report, Democrats on the committee believe there are additional allegations that should appear in the pages of an F.B.I. background check, to inform their questioning. That belief is based in part on information they have gleaned from individuals who have quietly approached Senate offices to divulge information about Mr. Hegseth."
Referring to outside information he has received, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) stated, “Damning is an understatement,” and suggested he feels what he has seen so far gives the "appearance of a cover-up."
With hearings closing in this week, a partisan fight has escalated, according to The NYT. The controversy has reached a high boil as Republicans face pressure from the Trump administration for quick confirmations, while Democrats say corner are being cut in order to please the incoming president. From The Times report:
A quiet but bitter partisan clash is underway on Capitol Hill over President-elect Donald J. Trump’s choices for key cabinet posts, as Republicans face immense pressure to fast-track confirmations and Democrats charge that they are cutting corners on vetting for critical administration jobs.
The feud is coming to a head as senators are planning a crowded schedule of confirmation hearings next week, with more than a dozen planned and more possible ahead of Mr. Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20.
Republican senators who attended a private planning session with Mr. Trump at the Capitol on Wednesday evening said that he urged them to stay united behind his picks after some Republicans have expressed their own reservations about certain candidates. Some have also sided with Democrats in insisting that senators must be allowed to review F.B.I. background checks and other pertinent material on the nominees before passing judgment.
Those at the Republican meeting said Mr. Trump made a special appeal for Pete Hegseth, his choice for defense secretary, who is scheduled to appear before the Armed Services Committee on Tuesday (1/14/25). They said he singled out Mr. Hegseth, a former Fox News personality and military veteran, by name in a sign of the importance he is placing on the confirmation.
But Democrats on the committee have begun raising objections about a potential lack of access to background materials such as an F.B.I. report on Mr. Hegseth, who settled a civil case with a woman who accused him of sexual assault, and has faced allegations of sexual harassment, drinking on the job and financial mismanagement. Democrats say the F.B.I. report on Mr. Hegseth might be shared only with the top Republican and Democrat on the panel, a break with normal procedures in which committee members are generally allowed access to such reports.
Some have also demanded to see financial and other records for veterans advocacy groups that Mr. Hegseth was overseeing when they ran into financial trouble, raising questions about his management skills when he is in line to run a department with an $849 billion budget and close to three million employees.
“They are stonewalling us,” Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, said about the Republican resistance to providing Democrats the documents they seek about Mr. Hegseth. “Without putting too fine a point on it, they think they can blow us off.”
Democrats had generally withheld their fire on many of Mr. Trump’s candidates and the confirmation process for a time, preferring to allow Republicans to quarrel among themselves about the qualifications and backgrounds of some of the president-elect’s choices. But as the hearings have grown closer, they have become more outspoken and critical of how Republicans are handling the process.
At the same time, influential allies of Mr. Trump, including Elon Musk, have stepped up a pressure campaign directed at Republicans. They are trying to get lawmakers to quickly confirm his chosen candidates without acquiescing to Democratic demands to slow their consideration over demands for paperwork or findings by the F.B.I., an agency that many conservatives do not trust.
“Unacceptable,” Mr. Musk posted on his social media site in response to a conservative post that criticized Republicans for “playing games” with Mr. Trump’s cabinet picks by abiding by longstanding Senate committee rules about vetting.
Mr. Hegseth met on Wednesday with Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the senior Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, who said the conversation between the two did “not relieve my concerns about Mr. Hegseth’s lack of qualifications and raised more questions than answers.”
Other Democratic members of the committee said the Trump transition had not made Mr. Hegseth available for meetings with them and told them that such sessions could not occur before Jan. 20, well after the hearing when Mr. Trump assumes office and Republicans could be pressing for confirmation.
Senator Tammy Duckworth, Democrat of Illinois and a combat veteran serving on the panel, said she and others were entitled to information about Mr. Hegseth’s finances, given his history.
“Is he somebody that is blackmailable?” Ms. Duckworth asked. “I don’t know. But I should be able to know if I’m going to have to vote for him for secretary of defense.”
Democrats jumped on the disputes as a way to raise questions about the Republican approach.
“Republicans choosing to rush nominees is quickly becoming a pattern,” Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the minority leader, said on the Senate floor on Thursday. “It’s hard not to wonder what are the Republicans trying to hide about these nominees from the American people.”
Democrats are limited in their ability to derail any disputed nominations, which require only a majority vote for confirmation, though they can erect procedural roadblocks and slow the process.
In recent meetings, Mr. Schumer has urged the Democrats on the committees with the most contentious nominees to take a double-barreled approach: Use the sessions to showcase contrasts between the policy goals of the parties while pulling back the curtain on the nominees in the hopes of breaking off at least four Republicans to provide the votes to defeat them or force them to withdraw.
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