STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
The president's nominee for secretary of defense is, once again, facing allegations of alcohol abuse and misconduct.
LEILA FADEL, BYLINE: Yeah. Pete Hegseth endured a round of questions about his past, as well as his qualifications and his nominations made it out of a Senate committee on a party line vote. The full Senate has yet to vote, and now his former sister-in-law has added her own views. She submitted an affidavit to senators saying Hegseth caused his ex-wife to fear for her safety.
INSKEEP: Unsurprisingly, the affidavit is now public. NPR congressional correspondent Deirdre Walsh is among reporters who obtained copies. Deirdre, good morning.
DEIRDRE WALSH, BYLINE: Good morning, Steve.
INSKEEP: OK. So what in this document adds to what was already known?
WALSH: This is an on-the-record, signed, sworn statement from Hegseth's former sister-in-law, as you noted - Danielle Hegseth. She was married to his brother Nathaniel. And she states that she was asked to provide the statement by the top Democrat on the panel, Jack Reed. Senator Reed told me last night he made the request for the details, because he didn't think the FBI background check on Hegseth was adequate. Danielle Hegseth says, in her personal opinion, Pete Hegseth is, quote, "unfit for the job." She says her former sister-in-law, Samantha, Hegseth's second wife who he divorced, feared for her personal safety during their marriage. She often hid in a closet. She said Samantha had a plan about texting her a safe word or code word that meant she wanted someone to fly to Minnesota to help her. Danielle Hegseth also said she personally witnessed Hegseth intoxicated, yelling in her face. She told the FBI that Hegseth abused alcohol numerous times over the years to the point of actually passing out during a holiday gathering.
INSKEEP: Well, what does Hegseth say about all that?
WALSH: Well, NPR reached out to his attorney, Tim Parlatore. He has not responded. But Parlatore told NBC, which first reported on this affidavit, that Samantha Hegseth, this ex-wife, never alleged any of abuse and actually signed court documents acknowledging there was no abuse. And she affirmed that as part of Hegseth's background check. He maintained, Parlatore, that Danielle was, quote, "an anti-Trump, far-left Democrat who was divorced from Hegseth's brother and never got along with the family." He said she has an axe to grind. In Samantha Hegseth's case, she told NBC in a statement there was no physical abuse. She wasn't going to comment on her marriage, and she didn't have representatives speaking on her behalf. It's worth noting that during the public confirmation hearing, Pete Hegseth was pressed about previous allegations about excessive drinking, inappropriate behavior, which he denied.
INSKEEP: In a broad sense, said they were anonymous allegations and so forth. I guess the key question here involves Republican senators. How are they responding to this?
WALSH: You know, they're standing behind him. I spoke with several last night after this affidavit became public. Most said they hadn't read the document, but they questioned the timing, the motivation. Hegseth's nomination is on track for a full Senate vote later this week or over the weekend at the latest. I talked to Armed Services chairman, Roger Wicker. He told reporters he had grave doubts about Danielle Hegseth's account in the affidavit, but he also admitted he hadn't read it. He said he was planning to review it, but he dismissed it as political. So far, no Senate Republican has publicly said they're going to oppose Pete Hegseth's nomination. With the 53-seat majority, he can lose three Republican votes and still get confirmed. He's not likely to get any support from Democrats, but he's not going to need them. Right now, he has the votes.
INSKEEP: Yeah. I guess we should note the political context, as well, that President Trump has demanded this nominee, and conservative groups have campaigned pretty strongly and threatened primaries and so forth against Republican senators.
Deirdre, thanks so much.
WALSH: Thank you, Steve.
INSKEEP: That's NPR's Deirdre Walsh. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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