Pete Hegseth’s behavior made his second wife fear for her safety, his former sister-in-law has claimed in a new affidavit handed to senators ahead of his confirmation vote, according to NBC News.
Hegseth, President Donald Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, has rejected the claims and his second wife has stated that “there was no physical abuse in my marriage.”
Senators received the affidavit on Tuesday after staffers at the Senate Armed Services Committee had been in touch with the former sister-in-law for a number of days.
Former sister-in-law Danielle Hegseth sent in the affidavit responding to a letter from Democratic Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island asking for “a statement attesting to your personal knowledge about Mr. Hegseth’s fitness to occupy this important position.”
Reed is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee. He asked Danielle Hegseth to outline what she was aware of in relation to “instances of abuse, or threats of abuse, perpetrated against any other person” as well as “mistreatment of a spouse, former spouse, or other members of his family,” in addition to further requests, NBC News reported.
On Tuesday, Reed said in a statement, “As I have said for months, the reports of Mr. Hegseth’s history of alleged sexual assault, alcohol abuse, and public misconduct necessitate an exhaustive background investigation.”
“I have been concerned that the background check process has been inadequate, and this sworn affidavit confirms that fact,” he added, according to NBC News.
He went on to state that “the alleged pattern of abuse and misconduct by Mr. Hegseth is disturbing. This behavior would disqualify any service member from holding any leadership position in the military, much less being confirmed as the Secretary of Defense.”
Danielle Hegseth outlines in the affidavit allegations that the defense secretary nominee engaged in volatile and threatening behavior that made his second wife, Samantha Hegseth, fear for her safety.
“First and foremost, I have not and will not comment on my marriage to Pete Hegseth,” Samantha Hegseth told NBC News in an email on Monday. “I do not have representatives speaking on my behalf, nor have I ever asked anyone to share or speak about the details of my marriage on my behalf, whether it be a reporter, a committee member, a transition team member, etc.”
“I do not believe your information to be accurate, and I have cc’d my lawyer,” said Samantha Hegseth.
After NBC News requested clarification on what information was inaccurate and for comment on the affidavit, Samatha Hegseth went on to state on Tuesday that “There was no physical abuse in my marriage. This is the only further statement I will make to you, I have let you know that I am not speaking and will not speak on my marriage to Pete. Please respect this decision.”
Tim Parlatore, an attorney for Pete Hegseth, rejected the allegations in a statement to NBC News.
“Sam has never alleged that there was any abuse, she signed court documents acknowledging that there was no abuse and recently reaffirmed the same during her FBI interview,” said Parlatore. “Belated claims by Danielle Dietrich, an anti-Trump far-left Democrat who is divorced from Mr. Hegseth’s brother and never got along with the Hegseth family, do nothing to change that.”
“After an acrimonious divorce, Ms. Dietrich has had an axe to grind against the entire Hegseth family,” he claimed. “Ms. Dietrich admits that she saw nothing but is now falsely accusing Sam of lying to both the Court and to the FBI because of private, undocumented statements that she allegedly made 10 years ago.”
Pete and Samantha Hegseth signed a 2021 court document stating that none of them alleged that they were victims of domestic abuse.
NBC News reviewed a redacted copy of the affidavit, in which Danielle Hegseth states, “I have chosen to come forward publicly, at significant personal sacrifice, because I am deeply concerned by what Hegseth’s confirmation would mean for our military and our country.”
Danielle Hegseth added she spoke out because she has been “assured that making this public statement will ensure that certain Senators who are still on the fence will vote against Hegseth’s confirmation. But for that assurance I would not subject myself or others referred to in this statement to the public scrutiny this statement is likely to cause.”
Pete and Samatha Hegseth were married between 2010 and 2017 and have three children.
Trump transition consultant and Hegseth advisor Arthur Schwartz said in an email to NBC News on Monday that “Even SASC Democrats found these allegations to be too flimsy to raise with Mr. Hegseth or their Republican colleagues on the committee, which says a lot about both the allegations and NBC’s standards for publication.”
Danielle Hegseth states in the affidavit that a lot of what she knows regarding the marriage she “learned” from Samatha at the time of the “events in question.”
She added that what she was told was “consistent with what I personally observed of Hegseth’s erratic and aggressive behavior over many years.”
