North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis told Pete Hegseth’s former sister-in-law that a sworn statement about his alleged alcohol abuse and abuse of his second wife could convince senators—himself included—to oppose Hegseth’s confirmation as secretary of defense, promising such a statement would “carry weight.”
Danielle Hegseth signed such a statement, and three Republicans— Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski, Maine’s Susan Collins, and Kentucky’s Mitch McConnell—voted against Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Defense Department. Tillis ultimately voted for Hegseth, who was confirmed late Friday after Vice President JD Vance broke the 50-50 tie.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Tillis conveyed his message to Danielle Hegseth on Jan. 19 in a phone call that two others witnessed. In a statement to the publication, Tillis, who is up for re-election next fall, said Hegseth’s statement “did carry weight, which is why I communicated my concerns to the White House and spent days doing my due diligence and seeing if there were any firsthand corroborating accounts of the sworn statement.”
Tillis added that he was “not able to speak with anyone who provided firsthand corroboration.”
Pete Hegseth’s second wife, Samantha, is precluded from making disparaging remarks about her former husband due to a clause in a 2018 divorce agreement, MSNBC reported on the eve of his confirmation vote.
Samantha Hegseth has denied that any physical abuse occurred during her marriage, but did not deny allegations by Danielle Hegseth that she feared for her safety and had a safe word to text others when she felt threatened.
In her sworn statement from last week, Danielle Hegseth said she went public because she had doubts about Hegseth’s competency for the role and “because I have been assured that making this public statement will ensure that certain senators who are still on the fence will vote against Hegseth’s confirmation.”
“But for that assurance,” she added, “I would not subject myself or others referred to in this statement to the public scrutiny this statement is likely to cause.”
