Pete Hegseth, US President-elect Donald Trump‘s choose for defence secretary, faces new allegations of misconduct. A current New Yorker report particulars claims of alcohol abuse, sexual impropriety, and mismanagement throughout his time main two veterans’ nonprofit organizations.
The report, printed Sunday, cites a 2015 whistleblower criticism alleging Hegseth was repeatedly drunk whereas president of Involved Veterans for America (CVA). The New Yorker studies, citing the criticism, “At one level, Hegseth needed to be restrained whereas drunk from becoming a member of the dancers on the stage of a Louisiana strip membership, the place he had introduced his workforce.” The criticism, compiled by former CVA staff, additionally alleges Hegseth and his administration workforce pursued feminine staffers, calling them as “social gathering women” and “not social gathering women.”
The New Yorker additional studies Hegseth stepped down from CVA in 2016 partly because of “issues about his mismanagement and abuse of alcohol on the job.” The article additionally particulars monetary troubles at Vets for Freedom (VFF), one other group Hegseth led. It claims VFF incurred “monumental debt” underneath his management and donors in the end diminished his position and compensation earlier than he left in 2012.
Hegseth’s legal professional, Timothy Parlatore, responded to the allegations with a press release: “We’re not going to touch upon outlandish claims laundered by means of The New Yorker by a petty and jealous disgruntled former affiliate of Mr. Hegseth’s. Get again to us while you attempt your first try at precise journalism.”
These allegations observe a earlier investigation into an alleged sexual assault in 2017. Hegseth was cleared of prison fees, however later settled a civil case with the accuser. Hegseth maintains his innocence. He informed reporters relating to the 2017 incident: “So far as the media is worried, I’ll preserve this quite simple. The matter was totally investigated and I used to be utterly cleared, and that’s the place I’m going to go away it.”
