The FBI’s background check on Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary, 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, according to three sources with direct knowledge of the report’s contents.
It’s standard protocol to question current and former spouses during an FBI background check, according to two other sources familiar with the process. But it also depends on the cooperation of those interviewed, and it’s unclear whether the FBI attempted to contact those people.
Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee, which will hold Hegseth’s confirmation hearing on Tuesday, also sent requests to attorneys for Hegseth’s ex-wives, but they did not share information with the committee, according to two sources.
Since Trump announced Hegseth as his choice to lead the Pentagon, the military veteran and former Fox News host has faced a number of controversies and negative allegations. Regarding the 2017 sexual assault allegation, Hegseth said the incident was consensual, but paid his accuser an undisclosed amount in 2023 as part of a settlement agreement. The local prosecutor declined to file charges in the case, saying there was no “evidence beyond a reasonable doubt” to support the charges.
Senate Democrats have already sounded the alarm over delays in the FBI’s vetting of Hegseth and their concerns about its completeness, while the Trump transition has downplayed those concerns.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, former state attorney general and member of the Armed Services Committee, told reporters Monday evening that “there may be some surprises” at Hegseth’s confirmation hearing. because we were denied access to certain materials and documents. and other information, including the FBI report, which may contain information to come at the hearing.
“I just want to point out that there is already a lot of public information that shows that Peter Hegseth does not have the character and confidence to be secretary of defense,” Blumenthal added. “There has never been a candidate for this position as unqualified as he is due to financial mismanagement, as well as sexual impropriety and alcohol.”
Democrats on the committee will be briefed Monday evening on the FBI report by the panel’s ranking member, Democratic Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island. Reed and committee Chairman Roger Wicker, a Republican senator from Mississippi, received the report late last week.
The FBI did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday evening.
