Pete Hegseth’s mother has a name: Penelope. In a 2018 email, she — Penelope Hegseth — called out her son as a man who had “abused” women (“belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around and uses”) throughout his life.
The woman who accused Hegseth of raping her at a fall 2017 conference, resulting in a police report but no criminal prosecution, also has a name: Hegseth paid her an undisclosed sum to make the allegation go away, his attorney currently threatening to sue her if she comes forward and repeats the claim again.
That President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Defense is a predator, then, is not an accusation leveled by faceless trolls on social media but one cosigned by his own parent and detailed in a 22-page write-up from the Monterrey Police Department. Republicans, however, are preparing to act as if the trail of accusations Hegesth has left in his wake — including that he was often drunk on the job while at Fox News and leading a veterans advocacy group, per his colleagues there — are mere tabloid rumors and not charges made by some of the very people who know him best.
In a statement this week, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, a survivor of sexual assault who was seen as a possible “no” vote on Hegseth’s confirmation, signaled that she’s willing to support a nominee accused of abuse, dismissing the accusation as poorly sourced after meeting with him in private.
“I appreciate Pete Hegseth’s responsiveness and respect for the process,” Ernst stated, saying she had secured commitments to conduct a “full audit” of the Pentagon and appoint a “senior official” who will address sexual assault in the military. “As I support Pete through this process, I look forward to a fair hearing based on truth,” she added, “not anonymous sources.”
Ernst had previously been skeptical that Hegseth could get confirmed in the Senate, earlier this month telling reporters that she was not yet a “yes” herself,” a fact that made her a MAGA target. According to Politico, Trump’s allies knew they had to “draw a red line here” lest Hegseth go the way of Matt Gaetz, who is recording birthday wishes on Cameo instead of leading the Department of Justice. That meant going to war: “Fix bayonets — that’s what we’re doing here to make sure that we have the back of President Trump and his nominees,” Steve Bannon said on his podcast last week. A local MAGA media personality also began publicly weighing a primary challenge in 2026.
“Joni, I’m told, got the message loud and clear,” a Trump insider told Politico.
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There are still as many as a half-dozen GOP senators who “aren’t there yet to vote yes,” MSNBC’s Jonathan Lemire reported Wednesday. “They are not outright saying ‘no,’ but they are also not saying ‘yes.’”
Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Susan Collins, R-Maine, are the most likely “no” votes; any others would likely sink Hegseth’s nomination.
But the momentum now appears to be on Hegseth’s side, with other members of the not-fully-MAGA caucus this week removing any doubt about how they plan to vote.
“I’m supporting Pete’s confirmation and I believe ultimately he will be confirmed,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said Tuesday night on Newsmax. Cornyn warned that the actual confirmation hearings would be “very unpleasant,” but like Ernst he downplayed the salience of the charges made against him (from his mother and a woman very much known to Hegseth, his attorneys and California police).
“I know there will be unnamed accusations and some things that are going to be hurtful, not only to him and his family, but he’s ready for that, his wife is ready for that, and I’m confident he will be confirmed,” Cornyn said. “I know of no one who’s said that they will vote against him.”
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