According to three people with direct knowledge of the report’s contents, the FBI background check on President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, does not include interviews with Hegseth’s ex-wives or the woman who accused him of sexual assault in a California hotel room in 2017.
Two other people with knowledge of the FBI background check process said that interviewing current and previous spouses is typical procedure. However, it also depends on the interviewees’ participation, and it’s unclear if the FBI made an effort to reach out to them.
Two sources claim that although Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee, which will hear Hegseth’s confirmation hearing on Tuesday, also contacted Hegseth’s ex-wives’ attorneys, they did not provide the committee with any material.
The military veteran and former Fox News anchor has been embroiled in a series of scandals and unfavorable accusations since Trump named Hegseth as his choice to lead the Pentagon. Hegseth has stated that the sexual assault accusation from 2017 was consensual, but as part of a settlement deal, he paid his victim an undisclosed sum in 2023. Due to the lack of proof beyond a reasonable doubt, the local district attorney declined to press charges in the case.
Concerns regarding the completeness and delays in obtaining the FBI check on Hegseth have previously been voiced by Senate Democrats, but the Trump transition has minimized those worries.
“There may be surprises” at Hegseth’s confirmation hearing, former state attorney general and Armed Services Committee member Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told reporters Monday night, “because we have been denied access to some of the materials and documents and other information, including the FBI report, that may contain information forthcoming during the hearing.”
Blumenthal continued, “I just want to clarify that there is already a ton of information on the public record that demonstrates Peter Hegseth lacks the character and confidence to be Secretary of Defense.” Due to his financial mismanagement, alcohol consumption, and sexual misbehavior, no nominee for this post has ever been as unfit as he is.
Democratic Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the panel’s leading member, is briefing the committee’s Democrats on the FBI findings Monday evening. The report was delivered at the end of last week to Reed and Mississippi Republican Senator Roger Wicker, who chairs the committee.
Requests for comment Monday evening were not immediately answered by the FBI.