Donald Trump’s transition team was “blindsided” by reports that police in 2017 investigated a sexual assault allegation against his pick for secretary of Department of Defense (DOD), CNN reports.
Trump on Tuesday announced his decision to nominate Fox News commentator Pete Hegseth to head the DOD. Vanity Fair’s Gabriel Sherman on Thursday reported Trump’s chief of staff, Susan Wiles, was briefed on Wednesday night “about an allegation that Hegseth had acted inappropriately with a woman” in Monterey, CA in 2017.
The Washington Post on Friday reported “internal turmoil over Hegseth’s future” after the news dropped.
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“The president-elect was not told about the extent of the sexual misconduct allegation before he chose Hegseth,” sources told the Post.
CNN’s Kristen Holmes on Friday joined host Wold Blitzer to discuss the allegation against Hegseth, and confirmed reporting that Trump was unaware of the claim before he picked his defense secretary nominee.
“They were surprised when they were informed this week about those sexual assault allegations against Hegseth,” Holmes said of Trump’s transition team members. “Some sources close to the transition, close to Donald Trump, telling us that essentially his nomination came together so quickly — there was little to no actual internal vetting when it came to Hegseth.”
“Now, these allegations actually led to Susie Wiles, the head of the transition, having a phone call on Thursday with Hegseth, questioning him about the allegations and asking if there was anything else that the team needed to know about before they moved forward,” Holmes reported.
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Holmes said “a source” insisted “that despite these allegations, Trump [and] the transition” are “ sticking by” Hegseth’s nomination. But, the reporter noted that “sources close to Donald Trump … didn’t even know that Hegseth was in consideration to be the secretary of defense.”
“So, right now they say they are sticking with him amid these sexual assault allegations, but it is clearly a rocky start for Hegseth to lead one of the biggest departments,” Holmes added.
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