New Reports Reveal Pete Hegseth’s Alleged Boozing In Front of Fox News Colleagues: Once Got So Drunk he ‘Struggled to Stand’
(Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP Images)
Pete Hegseth’s former Fox News colleagues have been anonymously blowing the whistle on alleged alcohol-fueled instances at work-related parties and events as President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Secretary of Defense faces increasing scrutiny over his fitness to lead the Pentagon.
In a report published Wednesday by the New York Times, several sources within the network, where Hegseth worked as a weekend anchor at Fox & Friends, relayed how their former colleague prompted concern and a human resource department intervention for his conduct.
At a 2016 Fox & Friends Christmas party, Hegseth reportedly caused a disturbance that led to an internal investigation by the network’s human resources department. A year later, at the wedding of a Fox News producer, he became so intoxicated that, according to witnesses, he “struggled to stand upright in a men’s bathroom.” Friends had to arrange for a ride to ensure he made it to the studio by morning.
Timothy Parlatore, Hegseth’s lawyer, denied these claims to the newspaper, saying, “neither of these allegations are true.”
Fox News declined to comment on the New York Times reporting to Mediaite and refused to comment on the claim of a human resource investigation.
The revelations come on the heels of other claims made in a whistleblower report, cited by The New Yorker, that Hegseth was frequently intoxicated at work-related events during his leadership of Concerned Veterans for America, a nonprofit backed by conservative donors.
While Hegseth has dismissed these allegations as “falsehoods from disgruntled ex-employees,” they add to a growing narrative about his unsteady behavior.
Hegseth himself acknowledges a history of drinking, telling Sirius XM host Megyn Kelly in a Wednesday interview that he used alcohol to cope with the trauma of his combat service.
“I went from being in a combat zone to being in an apartment in Manhattan,” he said. Still, he insisted: “I never had a drinking problem.”
Critics argue that these incidents highlight a pattern of poor judgment that could undermine his ability to lead the Pentagon. Even some sitting Republicans lawmakers, like Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), have described the allegations as “very disturbing.”
Trump, famously teetotal and critical of alcohol consumption, has so far overlooked the allegations and continues to publicly back Hegseth. Meanwhile, New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman claims that “most people around Trump” think that Hegseth’s nomination is on borrowed time.
