Pete Hegseth’s nomination hangs on key senator as more details of drinking emerge – US politics live
Senator Joni Ernst expected to be key to fate of Trump’s Pentagon pick; media reports say Hegseth faced HR investigation over Fox Christmas party anticsThe New York Times also heard from two former employees of conservative group Concerned Veterans for America, which Hegseth led around 2015 as it struggled financially.The former employees told the Times they remember Hegseth as a good boss. The Times also reported that even though the group was in debt, Hegseth did not have full control over its spending:Although he was listed as the chief executive officer, Mr. Hegseth did not have sole control over its finances. The organization was supported by a network of donors and operatives led by the billionaire industrialist brothers Charles and David Koch, and people familiar with it said its finances were overseen at least partly by officials at that network’s umbrella organization at the time, Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce.Two former employees said they remembered Mr. Hegseth as a powerful voice for the organization who spoke emphatically about veterans’ issues and encouraged his audiences to vote.The “Fox & Friends” Christmas party at a New York bowling arcade in 2016 was a low point. Mr. Hegseth, who was married to his second wife, with whom he had three children, was having an affair with Ms. Rauchet, a producer on the show.Her husband, suspecting an affair, showed up at the party even though the event was limited to Fox News employees, and Mr. Hegseth, who had been drinking, was upset to see him, according to people with knowledge of the incident.The following December, Mr. Hegseth got so drunk at a wedding of a Fox News producer that he struggled to stand upright in a men’s bathroom, according to two people with direct knowledge of the episode who declined to be named for fear of retribution. Friends asked a producer who was there to get Mr. Hegseth a ride home so he could make it to the set by 6 a.m., they said.Timothy Parlatore, Mr. Hegseth’s lawyer, said that “neither of these allegations are true.” Continue reading...
Senator Joni Ernst expected to be key to fate of Trump’s Pentagon pick; media reports say Hegseth faced HR investigation over Fox Christmas party antics
The New York Times also heard from two former employees of conservative group Concerned Veterans for America, which Hegseth led around 2015 as it struggled financially.
The former employees told the Times they remember Hegseth as a good boss. The Times also reported that even though the group was in debt, Hegseth did not have full control over its spending:
Although he was listed as the chief executive officer, Mr. Hegseth did not have sole control over its finances. The organization was supported by a network of donors and operatives led by the billionaire industrialist brothers Charles and David Koch, and people familiar with it said its finances were overseen at least partly by officials at that network’s umbrella organization at the time, Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce.
Two former employees said they remembered Mr. Hegseth as a powerful voice for the organization who spoke emphatically about veterans’ issues and encouraged his audiences to vote.
The “Fox & Friends” Christmas party at a New York bowling arcade in 2016 was a low point. Mr. Hegseth, who was married to his second wife, with whom he had three children, was having an affair with Ms. Rauchet, a producer on the show.
Her husband, suspecting an affair, showed up at the party even though the event was limited to Fox News employees, and Mr. Hegseth, who had been drinking, was upset to see him, according to people with knowledge of the incident.
The following December, Mr. Hegseth got so drunk at a wedding of a Fox News producer that he struggled to stand upright in a men’s bathroom, according to two people with direct knowledge of the episode who declined to be named for fear of retribution. Friends asked a producer who was there to get Mr. Hegseth a ride home so he could make it to the set by 6 a.m., they said.
Timothy Parlatore, Mr. Hegseth’s lawyer, said that “neither of these allegations are true.” Continue reading...
