With Pete Hegseth’s confirmation as defense secretary all but certain ahead of President Donald Trump’s inauguration, an effort is now underway to appoint him to Brett Kavanaugh. On Tuesday evening, NBC News released a hit He accused Hegseth of abusing his second wife, which left her “fearing for her life.” Other press outlets immediately followed suit with similar reports, citing an affidavit from his former sister-in-law.
SEE ALSO: Pete Hegseth shuts down Elizabeth Warren during confirmation hearings
Here’s a selection of the headlines before we get to the substantial reveal, and trust me, it’ll make your blood boil.
NEW – Senators on Tuesday obtained an affidavit from Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth’s former sister-in-law in which she says his behavior caused his second wife to fear for her safety. https://t.co/3vjm0vmbcC from @news_jul @S_Fitzpatrick @ckubeNBC
— Amanda Terkel (@aterkel) January 21, 2025
NEW: Pete Hegseth’s former sister-in-law says his ex-wife feared for her safety. The nominee for defense secretary denies the claims. https://t.co/rX3HGSh7WF
– Axios (@axios) January 21, 2025
BREAKING: Pete Hegseth’s former sister-in-law gave a sworn statement to senators saying the defense secretary nominee was abusive to his second wife. https://t.co/BF46cbid1C
– The New York Times (@nytimes) January 21, 2025
On the surface, this seems stern. Finally, there is a source on record making this claim, which is a step forward from most press claims these days. Surely that will derail Hegseth’s nomination, right?
There’s just one problem: Hegseth’s second wife, who was allegedly abused, unequivocally denies the allegations and is threatening to get her lawyer involved.
How do you tell this story with a straight face? pic.twitter.com/58DkgSTWlF
– JD Vance (@JDVance) January 21, 2025
But while NBC News bothered to mention the exculpatory information above, even though it was conveniently omitted from headlines and social media posts about the story, Politico simply omitted that detail in total.
Strange that Politico doesn’t mention in its newsletter the crucial fact that Hegseth’s ex-wife is on the record in the story “Denying these nonsense slanders.” Unless you’re intentionally trying to be dishonest, why leave this fact out of your newsletter? It cannot be justified journalistically. pic.twitter.com/1pZ7ze1k7u
— Andrew Surabian (@Surabees) January 21, 2025
I’m not an expert in journalism, but I think if the person of the alleged abuse tells you that your story is complete nonsense and threatens to get their lawyer involved, then that’s a pretty good reason for it don’t tell the story. And rest assured, if this situation had been focused on a Democrat, none of this would have ever been reported by any of these media outlets. But like the infamous Steele dossier, the press is hiding behind the existence of this affidavit as a hook to spread false, salacious information to harm a Republican.
However, I would suggest that this is no excuse. This affidavit was leaked, and if Hegseth’s ex-wife claims it is false information, then there is no reason why it should be leaked by the press. Keep in mind that this isn’t even coming from the sister of the ex-wife in question. It comes from his brother’s ex-wife. What does she have to do with all this? What are their political leanings? Why does she claim this just a few days before Hegseth’s confirmation and not years ago?
It’s the Kavanaugh playbook again, and it won’t work. The press was caught with their pants down with this story and, embarrassingly, marched straight into the wall anyway to get economical clicks. Far be it from me to protect her. If you want to continue to demonstrate your credibility and show the American people why you made the right decision by re-electing Donald Trump, then do it.
