Ex-relative reveals Trump defense nominee 'regularly abused alcohol' until he 'passed out'

22 January

Former Fox News host Pete Hegseth, President Donald Trump's pick for secretary of defense, moved a step closer to confirmation when Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) announced that she plans to vote in favor of the embattled nominee.

Hegseth is facing allegations of sexual assault (which he vehemently denies) and severe alcohol abuse, and Ernst previously seemed skeptical about the nomination. But Ernst's endorsement may sway other Senate Republicans who have been on the fence.

Nonetheless, Hegseth remains a controversial nominee. And new reporting in the Wall Street Journal details the extent of Hegseth's alleged alcohol abuse.

In an article published on January 21, WSJ journalists Lindsay Wise Jack Gillum report that "according to an ex-relative's account of his behavior that was given to U.S. lawmakers and reviewed by The Wall Street Journal," Hegseth "regularly abused alcohol to the point that he passed out at family gatherings, and once needed to be dragged out of a strip club while in uniform."

"The sworn statement, submitted in response to a request from Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, was signed by Hegseth's former sister-in-law, Danielle Hegseth," Wise and Gillum explain. "It states that she was with Hegseth when he passed out from drunkenness in the bathroom of a bar in Minneapolis in about 2013. It also describes another night, when she said Hegseth drank so much at a restaurant in Minneapolis that the Uber driver had to pull over on Interstate 94 so he could throw up."

Danielle Hegseth, according to the WSJ reporters, "said she personally observed erratic and aggressive behavior by Hegseth, witnessing him abusing alcohol multiple times over the years."

These new allegations, Wise and Gillum note, "come a day after" the Senate Armed Services Committee "voted 14-13 along party lines to advance Hegseth's nomination to lead the Defense Department."

A full vote on Hegseth is expected soon in the U.S. Senate, where Republicans have a 53-47 majority.

Read the full Wall Street Journal article at this link (subscription required).

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