Pete Hegseth's FBI background check doesn't include interviews with key women from his past
The report doesn't have material from his ex-wives or a woman who accused Hegseth of sexual assault in 2017. Hegseth has said that encounter was consensual, and prosecutors never filed charges.
The FBI background check on Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's pick for defense secretary, does not include interviews with Hegseth’s ex-wives or the woman who accused him of sexual assault in a California hotel room in 2017, according to three sources with direct knowledge of the contents of the report.
It is standard protocol to interview current and former spouses in conducting FBI background checks, according to two other sources familiar with the process. But it is also contingent on cooperation from the interviewees, and it is not clear whether the FBI attempted outreach to those people.
Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee, which will hold Hegseth's confirmation hearing Tuesday, also sent inquiries to counsel for Hegseth’s ex-wives, but they did not share information with the committee, according to two sources.
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Since Trump announced him as his pick to run the Pentagon, Hegseth, a military veteran and former Fox News host, has faced a number of controversies and negative allegations. With regard to the 2017 allegation of sexual assault, Hegseth has said the incident was consensual and that he paid his accuser an undisclosed amount in 2023 as part of a settlement agreement. The local district attorney declined to file charges, saying there was no “proof beyond a reasonable doubt” for charges.
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