Washington — The former sister-in-law of President Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, told senators in a sworn affidavit that he feared for his second wife’s personal safety and abused alcohol for years.
In an affidavit to members of the Senate Armed Services Committee obtained by CBS News, Daniel Hegseth said he was married to Pete Hegseth’s younger brother from 2011 to 2019. As part of that, she mentioned what she told FBI agents who conducted a background check on Hegseth. During the nomination process. She wrote that her statement came in response to a letter from Sen. Jack Reed, the committee’s top Democrat.
NBC News first reported on the document. Hegseth’s attorney, Tim Parlatore, denied the allegations, calling Danielle Hegseth an “anti-Trump far-left Democrat.”
In the affidavit, she wrote that Samantha Hegseth, Pete Hegseth’s second and now ex-wife, said she once hid in Hegseth’s closet out of fear for her safety, and that the incidents occurred sometime between 2014 and 2016. She noted that this anecdote was consistent with her observations of Hegseth’s behavior over the years.
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Hegseth’s ex-sister-in-law also claimed that his ex-wife had a plan to use if she needed to get away from her husband. The plan involved Samantha Hegseth sending Danielle Hegseth a secure text message and calling a friend who could help her. Danielle Hegseth wrote that she received a text containing a safe word and called her friend once between 2015 and 2016. Pete and Samantha Hegseth were married from 2010 to 2018.
Danielle Hegseth acknowledged that she did not witness the abuse firsthand and noted that she knew about the situation, having heard about it from Hegseth’s ex-wife.
She claimed that Hegseth was drunk and yelled at her, that she had to be dragged out during a 2009 incident, and that she personally witnessed Hegseth abusing alcohol on several occasions. She said Hegseth drank to the point of passing out at a family function. He said he was dragged out of a bar one evening and, during another incident, he passed out in the bar’s bathroom.
The affidavit was signed Tuesday in Hennepin County, Minnesota. Hegseth’s former sister-in-law noted in the affidavit that her statements repeat what she told the FBI.
Daniel Hegseth said he provided the response because he believed his brother-in-law was unfit to serve as defense secretary. She urged the Senate to consider the affidavit when it votes on Hegseth’s nomination as it emerges from committee on Monday.
Hegseth’s attorney, Parlatore, denied the allegations, saying in a statement that Hegseth’s ex-wife “has never alleged that any abuse occurred.” He said Samantha Hegseth signed court documents and reaffirmed in an FBI interview that there was no abuse.
“The belated claims from Danielle Dietrich, an anti-Trump far-left Democrat who divorced Hegseth’s brother and has never been on good terms with the Hegseth family, do nothing to change that,” Parlatore said. “After an acrimonious divorce, Mr. Dietrich took the ax toll on the entire Hegseth family. Mr. Dietrich has admitted that he saw nothing, but is now falsely accusing Sam of lying to the court and the FBI about undocumented private statements he allegedly made 10 years ago.”
Samantha Hegseth could not immediately be reached for comment, but told NBC News in an email, “I believe your information is inaccurate” and declined to comment on her marriage to Hegseth.
Hegseth appeared before his military council. confirmation hearing Last week, he faced difficult questions from Democrats about his views on women in the military and allegations of sexual assault, which he also denied.
Hegseth has come under intense scrutiny over reports about his background and for weeks was considered to have the steepest path to confirmation among Trump’s Cabinet nominees. But Republican senators on the Armed Services Committee defended his nomination during the hearing, after which one key member, Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst, said she supported Hegseth’s confirmation.
Nicole Killion
contributed to this report.
