Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Defense Secretary, set the record straight after Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) cited thoroughly refuted anonymous reports claiming he drank on the job at Fox News.
Hirono used her time during Hegseth’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee to peddle the anonymous reports, which a multitude of Hegseth’s former coworkers at Fox News have refuted on record.
“I have read multiple reports of your regularly being drunk at work, including by people who worked with you at Fox News. Do you know that being drunk at work is prohibited for service members under the UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice)?” Hirono asked Hegseth, presenting him with only a “yes or no” option seemingly designed to prevent him from pushing back on the anonymous allegations.
“Senator–” Hegseth began before Hirono immediately cut him off, directing him to answer “yes or no.”
“Those are multiple false anonymous reports peddled by NBC News that run directly contradictory to the dozens of men and women at Fox News Channel who I worked with who came on the record and said they’ve never seen that,” Hegseth responded.
“I’m not hearing, I’m not hearing the answer to my question,” she said, raising a hand to her ear.
One of Hegseth’s former co-hosts on Fox and Friends Weekend, Will Cain, and many other former co-workers, in addition to friends and others who know him personally came out to support him after the claims ran in an anonymous smear piece from NBC News, as Breitbart News reported:
- Will Cain, Hegseth’s former co-host at Fox News
- Dan Bongino, podcast show host
- Nicole Saphier, MD
- Joey Johnny, Marine combat veteran and author
- Kyle Becker, former Fox News writer/associate producer
- Breanna Morello, podcast host/former Fox News producer
- Piers Morgan, British TV host
- Rob Smith, Iraq War veteran and Fox News commentator
- William Case, former Fox News producer
- Lisa Boothe, Fox News host
- Clay Travis, founder of Outkick.com
- Guy Benson, former co-host with Hegseth
- Carol Roth, former Blaze coworker
- Rachel Campos-Duffy, Fox News host
- Evita Duffy, Bongino Report host
- Sara Carter, Fox News contributor
- Lara Logan, investigative journalist
- Mollie Hemingway, editor-in-chief of the Federalist
- Tomi Lahren, show host
- Ximena Barreto, aide to Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)
-
Corey A. DeAngelis, American Culture Project senior fellow
- Leo Terrell, Fox News contributor
- Graham Allen, show host
- Charlie Kirk, founder and CEO of Turning Point USA
- Jason Rantz, radio show host
- Monica Crowley, former Trump administration official and Fox News host
- Jon Nicosia, president of News Cycle Media
- Tony Shaffer, author, intelligence operative and Newsmax contributor
- Janice Dean, Fox News cohost and weather anchor
- Brian Brenberg, Fox News Business host
- Dr. Carol Swain, author and political commentator
- Catturd, popular conservative figure
Hegsth’s attorney, Tim Parlatore, highlighted the many on-the-record refutations in a statement to the Washington Post last month.
“And the sheer number of Fox News employees who have come out over the past 24 hours on the record with their names to debunk these claims vastly outweighs the unverifiable anonymous claims that have been reported,” Parlatore said.
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