According to three people with direct knowledge of the report’s contents, the FBI background check on Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for defense secretary, does not include interviews with Hegseth’s ex-wives or the woman who accused Hegseth 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.
The ranking member of the panel, Democratic Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, will immediately update the committee’s Democrats on the 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 were not immediately answered by the FBI.