Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, is “misguided” in his defense of Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to lead the Pentagon, according to legal analyst Lisa Rubin on Friday.
Following his nomination to become the next defense secretary, Hegseth has faced scrutiny over several allegations that involve excessive drinking, financial mismanagement and sexual misconduct.
A recent report from The New Yorker, citing a whistleblower report and interviews with former colleagues, said Hegseth had been forced out of leadership positions at two veterans’ organizations—Veterans for Freedom and Concerned Veterans for America. Hegseth, a military veteran and former Fox News host, has also been accused of sexually assaulting a woman in Monterey, California, in 2017, an allegation he has vehemently denied and for which he was never charged.
In an interview on SiriusXM’s The Megyn Kelly Show on Wednesday, Hegseth repeatedly described the allegations against him as “smears” and noted that the reports about his excessive drinking cite anonymous sources.
“First of all, I’ve never had a drinking problem,” Hegseth said. “No one’s ever approached me and said, ‘You should really look at getting help for drinking.’ Never, never sought counseling, never sought help, but I respect and appreciate people who do. But you know, what do guys do when they come back from war oftentimes? Have some beers. How do you deal with the demons you see on the battlefield? Sometimes it’s with a bottle.”
Tim Parlatore, his attorney, has also denied the allegations, previously telling Newsweek: “There was never any drinking on the job at Fox News. Multiple people have come out on the record using their names to refute these false anonymous claims.”
Responding to these allegations on CBS News on Tuesday, Graham had initially described the allegations against Hegseth as “very disturbing” and suggested it might be “difficult” for the U.S. Senate to confirm him for the key Cabinet position.
However, Graham later clarified in an interview with Fox News that he would not make any decision on Hegseth’s nomination based on “anonymous” sources.
“The allegations against Pete are anonymous sources. I’m not going to make any decisions based on an anonymous source. If you’re not willing to raise your hand under oath and make the accusation, it doesn’t count. I’ve heard everything about all of these people. None of it counts. No rumors, no innuendo.”
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In an MSNBC column titled, “After Pete Hegseth claims, Lindsey Graham says anonymous sources ‘don’t count.’ He’s wrong,” Rubin, an MSNBC legal correspondent and former litigator, discussed how Graham’s remarks on anonymous sources are “misguided.”
“To discount serious allegations simply because the sources were granted anonymity is misguided. For one, while the sources of anonymous allegations are not named publicly, their identities are known to the journalists reporting them. Journalists also work to verify and/or corroborate the information such sources provide,” Rubin, a former legal analyst for The Rachel Maddow Show and Alex Wagner Tonight, wrote.
She added: “More significantly, Graham’s outright dismissal of anonymous sources presents a problem larger than how Hegseth’s planned formal nomination next month should be evaluated by senators, who have a constitutional obligation to ‘advise and consent.’ Anonymity—be it through media sources or within our justice system—is as central to holding power to account as is a free press.”
Newsweek has reached out to Graham’s office via email for comment.
This comes after Hegseth said he has no intention of withdrawing his nomination. Speaking to Megyn Kelly on her show on Wednesday, he said: “We’re going to fight like hell. There’s no reason to back down. Why would we back down?”
Amid the controversies, on Tuesday night, The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump was also considering Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as a potential replacement for Hegseth for defense secretary.
DeSantis, who served for many years as an officer and lawyer in the U.S. Navy and Navy Reserve, would likely face a far easier path to Senate confirmation. However, accepting a position in Trump’s Cabinet would require him to resign as governor.
Hegseth cannot afford to lose the support of more than three Republican senators in the confirmation vote next year, as the GOP is set to control the Senate with a 53-47 majority.
