Washington — The former sister-in-law of Pete Hegseth, President Trump’s nominee to be secretary of defense, told senators in an affidavit that he made his second wife fear for her personal safety for years and caused alcohol abuse.
In the affidavit to members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which was obtained by CBS News, Danielle Hegseth said she was married to Pete Hegseth’s brother from 2011 to 2019. She recounted what she told FBI agents who conducted a background check on Hegseth. of the appointment process. She wrote that her statement was in response to a letter from Senator Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the committee.
NBC News first reported the document. Tim Parlatore, a lawyer for Hegseth, denied the allegations and called Danielle Hegseth an “extreme left-wing Democrat” against Trump.
In the affidavit, she wrote that Samantha Hegseth, Pete Hegseth’s second and now ex-wife, told her that she once hid from Hegseth in the closet out of fear for her safety, an incident she said occurred between the years 2014 and 2016. She noted that the anecdote was consistent with what she had observed in Hegseth’s behavior over several years.
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Hegseth’s former sister-in-law also claimed that his ex-wife had a plan she would use if she had to leave her husband. The plan involved Samantha Hegseth texting a safe word to Danielle Hegseth, who would then call a friend who could help her. Danielle Hegseth wrote that she received a text message with the safe word and called the friend once between 2015 and 2016. Pete and Samantha Hegseth were married from 2010 to 2018.
Danielle Hegseth acknowledged that she did not personally witness any abuse and noted that what she knows about the situation she learned from Hegseth’s ex-wife.
She alleged that Hegseth drunkenly yelled at her and had to be pulled away during a 2009 incident, and that she personally witnessed Hegseth abusing alcohol on multiple occasions. She said Hegseth would drink to the point where he passed out at family events, describing, among other things, one night when she said he was dragged out of a bar, and another night when she said he passed out in a bar bathroom .
The affidavit was signed Tuesday in Hennepin County, Minnesota. Hegseth’s former sister-in-law noted in the affidavit that her statement is a repetition of what she told the FBI.
Danielle Hegseth said she gave the answer because she believes her former brother-in-law is not fit to serve as defense secretary. She encouraged the Senate to consider the affidavit when voting on the nomination of Hegseth, who resigned from the committee on Monday.
Parlatore, Hegseth’s attorney, denied the allegations in a statement, saying Hegseth’s ex-wife “never alleged that there was any abuse.” He said Samantha Hegseth signed court documents to that effect and reaffirmed that there was no abuse during her FBI interview.
“Late claims by Danielle Dietrich, a far-left anti-Trump Democrat who divorced Mr. Hegseth’s brother and never got along with the Hegseth family, cannot change that,” Parlatore said. “After a bitter divorce, Mrs. Dietrich has taken a heavy toll on the entire Hegseth family.”
Samantha Hegseth could not immediately be reached for comment, but told NBC News in an email that “I do not believe your information is accurate” and declined to speak about her marriage to Hegseth.
Hegseth appeared for his before the Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing last week, answering tough questions from Democrats about his views on women in the military and a sexual assault allegation, which he also denied.
Hegseth has faced intense criticism over reports about his background, and for weeks he was believed 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 a key member, Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, signaled her support for Hegseth’s confirmation.
Nikole Killion contributed to this report.