Senate Democrats said Monday that an FBI background check on Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of defense, is missing information on sexual assault allegations that have fueled much of the opposition against him.
The FBI background check, which followed parameters set by the Trump transition team, may have defied standard protocol by not including interviews with Hegseth's ex-wives or the woman who accused him of sexual assault in a hotel room in 2017, according to senators on the Armed Services Committee.
Hegseth has insisted that the encounter with the woman was consensual. No charges were brought, and Hegseth later paid an undisclosed amount of money as part of a confidential settlement.
“There are significant gaps and inadequacies in the report, including the failure to interview some of the key potential witnesses with personal knowledge of improprieties or abuse,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told The New York Times after being briefed on the report's contents by a source who had access. At the Trump transition team's insistence, only the chair and ranking member of the Armed Services Committee were allowed access to the full report.
The FBI background check was commissioned by the Trump transition team, which as the client is generally able shape the investigation's progress and choose or veto which officials the bureau may interview. Details over what exact instructions they provided are unknown. Sources familiar with the check told the Times that the FBI had a perfunctory conversation with Hegseth's second ex-wife, but did not follow up nor respond to her multiple attempts to provide more information.
The Hegseths married in 2010 but divorced seven years later after Mr. Hegseth had a child with his "Fox & Friends" producer. Before the divorce was finalized, his mother wrote a stern email accusing him of abusive treatment of women — an email she has since disavowed.
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