Oklahoma Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma mentioned on Sunday that he would not imagine the lady who accused Trump’s secretary of protection nominee of sexual assault.
Fox Information host Pete Hegseth, whom Trump tapped to go the DOD, was accused of rape in 2017 by a lady who attended a Republican girls occasion in California. Her accusations are detailed in a 22-page police report, which Trump’s crew allegedly didn’t know about earlier than Trump tapped Hegseth for a Cupboard position.
“He wasn’t charged. He wasn’t even form of charged on this. There was no crime dedicated. The police dropped every thing there,” Mullin advised CNN’s Dana Bash of the rape allegation in opposition to Pete Hegseth.
“What’s unfortunate, in today’s world, you can be accused of anything, and then, especially if it’s something like this, you’re automatically assumed to be guilty,” Mullin added.
Whereas it’s true Hegseth wasn’t charged after the police report was filed, that doesn’t essentially clear him of wrongdoing.
Prosecutors could not have believed there was sufficient proof to show the allegation past an inexpensive doubt—one thing that occurs usually in rape instances as they’re usually primarily based on competing accounts from the accuser and the accused.
“Out of every 1000 instances of rape, only 13 cases get referred to a prosecutor, and only 7 cases will lead to a felony conviction,” in accordance to the Rape Abuse and Incest Nationwide Community.
What’s extra, Hegseth paid the accuser off to maintain quiet about her allegations, which Hegseth reportedly feared might have price him his Fox Information gig.
Mullin is not the one Republican defending Hegseth within the face of rape allegations.
Sen. Invoice Hagerty of Tennessee mentioned he will not let the rape allegation “distract” him and plans to vote for Hegseth with none extra vetting crucial.
“Don’t let these allegations distract us,” Hagerty mentioned of Hegseth. “What we need is real significant change. The Pentagon has been more focused on pronouns than they have lethality the past four years. We need to get back to business, and I think Pete is just the person to do it.”
In the end, not one Republican senator has come out publicly in opposition to Hegseth.
That features Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, a veteran who’s a sufferer of sexual assault and has been vocal in regards to the want for the navy to handle its issues of sexual violence. In 2019, Ernst was the solely Republican to vote in opposition to Trump’s decide for vice chair of the Joint Chiefs of Employees, who had been accused of sexual assault by a fellow member of the navy.
Nevertheless, Ernst has raised issues in regards to the Hegseth allegations in addition to his perception that ladies should not serve in fight.
“Any time there are allegations, you want to make sure they are properly vetted, so we’ll have that discussion,” Ernst advised Politico.
Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota has additionally raised issues about Hegseth however hasn’t mentioned he’ll vote in opposition to him.
“It’s a pretty big problem, given that we have, you know, we have a sexual assault problem in our military,” Cramer mentioned of the rape allegation in opposition to Hegseth.
Along with the rape allegation in opposition to Hegseth, Democratic senators are pushing again on Hegseth as a result of he’s not certified to run one of many largest segments of the federal authorities.
“Pete Hegseth never commanded a unit or a company—let alone battalions, brigades or whole armies. He does not have the experience to run a Department that includes 3 million servicemembers and civilians along with a budget of over $900 billion,” Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, a veteran who misplaced each of her legs throughout a tour in Iraq, wrote on X Sunday. “He is unqualified and dangerous.”
Hegseth is one in every of quite a lot of Trump’s Cupboard nominees who’ve confronted allegations of sexual impropriety.
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida needed to abandon his nomination for lawyer basic as a result of he was dogged by allegations that he sex-trafficked a minor.
Trump actually is aware of how one can decide the “best people.”
