{"id":133023,"date":"2024-12-04T01:00:10","date_gmt":"2024-12-03T18:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=133023"},"modified":"2024-12-04T01:00:10","modified_gmt":"2024-12-03T18:00:10","slug":"defense-head-pick-pete-hegseth-now-dogged-by-questions-over-alcohol-use-trump-administration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=133023","title":{"rendered":"Defense head pick Pete Hegseth now dogged by questions over alcohol use | Trump administration"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">Questions continued to dog <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/donaldtrump\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s pick to lead the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, on Monday following reports he was twice ousted from previous organisations he led over financial mismanagement and improper behavior, with reporters asking him directly if he had an alcohol problem.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">Hegseth, 44, who was visiting Capitol Hill to drum up support for his troubled nomination, did not respond when a journalist <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/jamiedupree\/status\/1863681372457488860?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1863681372457488860%7Ctwgr%5E9d102206ce12377f3e87e4e73b86c8ddc7320fb2%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedailybeast.com%2Fpete-hegseth-faces-reporters-on-capitol-hill-asking-if-hes-a-drunk%2F\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">asked<\/a>: \u201cDo you have an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/society\/alcohol\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">alcohol<\/a> problem?\u201d as he arrived for a meeting with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/republicans\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Republican<\/a> senators.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">Later, another reporter, from CBS, buttonholed him in a corridor and asked him: \u201cWere you ever drunk while traveling on the job?\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"f09238bb-c5c8-4c65-8bed-96ac97dcfde7\" data-spacefinder-role=\"richLink\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement\" class=\" dcr-1your1i\"><gu-island name=\"RichLinkComponent\" priority=\"feature\" deferuntil=\"idle\" props=\"{&quot;richLinkIndex&quot;:3,&quot;element&quot;:{&quot;_type&quot;:&quot;model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement&quot;,&quot;prefix&quot;:&quot;Related: &quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Pete Hegseth forced out of non-profit leadership roles for misconduct \u2013 report&quot;,&quot;elementId&quot;:&quot;f09238bb-c5c8-4c65-8bed-96ac97dcfde7&quot;,&quot;role&quot;:&quot;richLink&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2024\/dec\/02\/pete-hegseth-non-profit-allegations&quot;},&quot;ajaxUrl&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/api.nextgen.guardianapps.co.uk&quot;,&quot;format&quot;:{&quot;design&quot;:0,&quot;display&quot;:0,&quot;theme&quot;:0}}\"\/><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">\u201cI\u2019m not gonna dignify that with a response,\u201d Hegseth, until recently a Fox News host, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thedailybeast.com\/pete-hegseth-faces-reporters-on-capitol-hill-asking-if-hes-a-drunk\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">answered<\/a>, adding: \u201cI\u2019m talking to all the senators and I look forward to their discussions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">The New Yorker magazine recently reported whistleblower accusations that Hegseth was forced out of leadership roles in two military veterans organisations following allegations of financial mismanagement, aggressive drunkenness and sexist behaviour.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">The disclosures have further complicated Hegseth\u2019s chances of winning over Republican senators at confirmation hearings after an earlier revelation that police in California investigated a sexual assault allegation made against him in 2017. The investigation did not result in criminal charges and Hegseth later reached a financial settlement with the woman who made the complaint.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">The magazine reported that Hegseth had to be carried to his room at a Memorial Day veterans event in Virginia Beach in 2014 after getting \u201ctotally sloshed\u201d, and on another occasion reportedly had to be restrained from joining female dancers on stage at a Louisiana strip club.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">One witness recounted him shouting: \u201cKill all Muslim, kill all Muslims\u201d at a bar in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, in 2015. The episode was the subject of a written complaint to the Koch-backed group Concerned Veterans for America (CVA), of which Hegseth was then chief executive officer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">Hegseth was also said to have financially run another veterans outfit, Vets for Freedom, into the ground financially during his tenure as chief executive.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">A lawyer for Hegseth has dismissed the allegations. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/pete-hegseth-drunk-sexual-misconduct-report-1994586\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">CBS cited a source<\/a> close to him as saying the claims were false but adding that Hegseth had acknowledged he \u201cdrank too much\u201d in the past.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">\u201cThat\u2019s not the kind of life that Pete lives right now. He certainly has matured a lot in the past decade,\u201d the source told CBS.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">Hegseth appeared to win backing among rightwing Republicans he met on Monday accompanied by his wife, Jennifer Rauchet. Rick Scott, a senator for Florida, said Hegseth, an army veteran without previous Pentagon management experience, was \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2024\/12\/03\/senators-pete-hegseth-defense-secretary-trump\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">clearly committed to making sure we have a lethal military that scares the crap out of our enemies<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">\u201cA year from now, military recruitment numbers will have skyrocketed under Secretary Hegseth,\u201d added the Texas senator Ted Cruz, who accused Democrats of trying to make \u201ca spectacle\u201d out of the nomination \u2013 though the real threat may come from Republicans, some of whom Hegseth is due to meet in further visits to Capitol Hill this week.<\/p>\n<figure data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.NewsletterSignupBlockElement\" class=\" dcr-173mewl\"><a data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" href=\"#EmailSignup-skip-link-14\" class=\"dcr-jzxpee\">skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n<aside aria-label=\"newsletter promotion\" class=\"dcr-av5vqf\">\n<p class=\"dcr-1xjndtj\">Get the most important US headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning<\/p>\n<p><gu-island name=\"SecureSignup\" priority=\"feature\" deferuntil=\"visible\" props=\"{&quot;newsletterId&quot;:&quot;today-us&quot;,&quot;successDescription&quot;:&quot;Get the most important US headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning&quot;}\"\/><span class=\"dcr-1eusqlu\"><strong>Privacy Notice: <\/strong>Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our <a data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/help\/privacy-policy\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"dcr-1rjy2q9\">Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google <a data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" href=\"https:\/\/policies.google.com\/privacy\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"dcr-1rjy2q9\">Privacy Policy<\/a> and <a data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" href=\"https:\/\/policies.google.com\/terms\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"dcr-1rjy2q9\">Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/span><\/aside>\n<p id=\"EmailSignup-skip-link-14\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-label=\"after newsletter promotion\" role=\"note\" class=\"dcr-jzxpee\">after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">Joni Ernst, a GOP senator from Iowa who sits on the Senate\u2019s armed services committee, has stopped short of supporting Hegseth, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/2024\/12\/02\/trump-administration-transition\/#link-BCIUPGRB5NER7B3ABWA5DZEMNI\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Washington Post reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">\u201cI know there\u2019s a lot of information out there,\u201d she said. \u201cI want the best for the president, right? I want the best for the president, and he deserves a nominee that will work for him and do the absolute best that our country needs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">Roger Wicker of Mississippi, who will chair the committee when the new Senate is sworn in on 3 January, has been pressing for nominees to undergo standard FBI background checks, which Trump\u2019s transition team has been resisting.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">He told reporters that checks could be agreed \u201cin the next few days\u201d, potentially spelling trouble for Hegseth.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">\u201cI do think there will be FBI background checks,\u201d Wicker told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/live-updates\/2024\/12\/02\/congress\/afghan-withdrawal-fallout-00192282\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Politico<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1eu361v\">\u201cMy preference is that we honor the precedent that has been in place since the Eisenhower administration, and be informed by the agency that does background checks.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2024\/dec\/03\/pete-hegseth-defense-department-alcohol-use\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Questions continued to dog Donald Trump\u2019s pick to lead the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, on Monday following reports he was twice ousted from previous organisations he led over financial mismanagement and &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=133023\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8629],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-133023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-u-s","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133023","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=133023"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133023\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=133023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=133023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=133023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}