Senate Democrat Goes Off On’Disqualifying’ Hegseth Whistleblower Report: People With ‘Continuing Alcohol Problems’ Shouldn’t Be Secretary of Defense
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Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) called the alleged misconduct laid out in The New Yorker’s expose of President-elect Donald Trump’s Secretary of Defense pick Pete Hegseth both “alarming” and “disqualifying.”
Over the weekend The New Yorker published details from a 2015 report written by staffers at Concerned Veterans for America (CVA), during Hegseth’s tenure as CEO between 2013 and 2016, flagging a series of troubling incidents and alleged behaviors to senior management.
The seven-page report alleged Hegseth was frequently drunk at official events, once needing to be carried out of a Louisiana strip club. Former staffers also claim he created a toxic workplace where female employees were subjected to harassment and divided into groups labeled as “party girls” and “not party girls.” In emails, Hegseth was accused of spending donor funds on “partying” and “hook-up[s].”
Speaking with The New Yorker journalist Jane Mayer, Blumenthal, a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, was disturbed by the claims.
“Much as we might be sympathetic to people with continuing alcohol problems, they shouldn’t be at the top of our national-security structure,” Blumenthal said. “Literally life-and-death issues are in the hands of the Secretary of Defense, and entrusting these kinds of issues to someone who might be incapacitated for any reason is a risk we cannot take.”
Blumenthal drew parallels to the 1989 rejection of Senator John Tower, a Republican nominee for Secretary of Defense, over concerns about his drinking and womanizing.
“John Tower went down for these same kinds of issues,” Blumenthal remarked. “I don’t think it’s a partisan issue.”
Hegseth has denied the allegations — with his lawyer dismissing them as “outlandish claims laundered by a petty and jealous disgruntled former associate.”
Blumenthal, however, vowed rigorous scrutiny during Senate confirmation hearings: “We cannot afford to gamble with our national security by confirming someone with such a deeply concerning track record.”
