Pete Hegseth, the Fox News Channel host and veterans advocate, is currently President-elect Donald Trumps nominee for defense secretary.
Hegseth has been actively seeking the support of Republican senators for his confirmation on Capitol Hill. His former colleagues at Concerned Veterans for America (CVA), where Hegseth served as CEO, have rallied behind him, refuting allegations that have emerged from his tenure at the veterans advocacy organization.
According to The Daily Signal, these allegations range from workplace misconduct to sexual assault, and have diverted the Senate confirmation process. Instead of discussing his plans for defending the United States, Hegseth has been forced to defend his personal reputation. Sean Parnell, a former airborne Army Ranger and senior adviser to CVA, has been vocal in his support for Hegseth, stating that the allegations are "completely untrue."
Hegseth, 44, served as CEO of CVA from 2013 to 2016, before joining Fox News. His military service includes deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, and he reached the rank of major in the Army National Guard. Since his nomination by Trump to head the Defense Department, various media outlets have reported allegations of a toxic work environment, frequent intoxication, inappropriate sexual conduct, and financial mismanagement during his time at CVA. These reports suggest that these issues led to Hegseth's departure from the organization in 2016.
However, Parnell and other colleagues from Hegseths time at CVA have refuted these allegations, stating that they are completely untrue. One former employee, who worked closely with Hegseth, told The Daily Signal that he never witnessed any inappropriate behavior from Hegseth in the workplace. He stated, what they accuse Pete of simply didnt happen.
Hegseth's leadership at CVA was during a critical period when veterans' issues were at the forefront of Washington policy discussions. This was due to the 2014 scandal at the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) during the Obama administration, where the VA was accused of falsifying appointment records to hide long wait times for veterans to receive critical health care.
Parnell recalled this period, stating, When it became apparent to all of us [at CVA] that there was a secret waitlist at the VA, we knew we had to expose that whole scandal. He credited Hegseth's leadership and media presence for shifting the cultural perspective and holding the VA accountable.
The VA health care scandal was not isolated to Phoenix. An audit of the VA in June 2014 found that more than 120,000 veterans were stuck on waitlists or didnt receive medical care. Parnell stated that Hegseth was instrumental in exposing the VA's denial of these issues, stating, That was just completely bogus, and it was Pete relentlessly beating the drum every day in the media that helped expose all of it.
In May 2014, Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, a retired Army general appointed by President Barack Obama, resigned in disgrace. CVA, under Hegseths leadership, played a significant role in Shinsekis ousting. Hegseth told CNN at the time, Were proud to stand with The American Legion as they take this courageous and historic stand. We applaud their demands for accountability at the very top of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Under Hegseths leadership, CVA was a leading voice in policy debates to reform the VA. The organization unveiled its suggested reforms in early 2015 with two goals in mind: First, increase the quality of care received at VA facilities. Second, provide veterans more choice in health care.
To achieve these goals, CVA proposed allowing veterans to have VA-sponsored health insurance for care in the private sector. This change would alleviate pressure on overburdened VA health care facilities while giving veterans more control over their own medical care, CVA argued.
CVAs plan received high marks from media outlets. The Arizona Republic, a publication on the front lines of the VA health care scandal, given its Phoenix origins, supported CVAs reforms. Despite this, the Obama administration left CVA out of roundtable discussions about reforms during a visit to the VAs Phoenix system.
Nevertheless, CVA was a significant player in Congress passing the VA Accountability Act of 2014, which sought to increase veterans health care choices. Critics, however, said the new law ended up being poorly enforced by the Obama administration.
One former CVA employee who overlapped with Hegseths tenure said, Through his hard work, his credibility, his determination, his articulation of the issues, and by putting together the right team, he laid the groundwork for policy wins. Honestly, it was probably the time in my career when I felt the most like we are a well-oiled machinedoing serious stuff and changing the conversation.
Trump, who made the governments treatment of veterans a major campaign issue in 2016, brought several CVA members into his administration. Hegseth was floated as a potential Trump nominee for VA secretary in Trumps first term. CVA worked closely with the Trump administration to improve veterans health care choices and outcomes, given the Obama administrations poor enforcement of the new VA Accountability and Choice Act.
Trump signed two major pieces of veterans legislation into law during his first term. The first, the VA Accountability Act of 2017, gave the Department of Veterans Affairs more latitude to fire poor-performing employees. The second, the VA Mission Act, transformed the VA to increase veterans health care options by creating a structure akin to the militarys Tricare insurance system.
Mark Lucas, Hegseths successor at CVA, argues that Hegseths leadership was integral to VA reform. Lucas told The Daily Signal about a briefing he had with Trump shortly after taking the reins at CVA. He said, I briefed President Trump on CVAs plan to reform the VA in our conversation in front of all these veteran service organizations. I told him that Pete Hegseth was my predecessor, and Trumps eyes lit up and he said, You know Pete? I love Pete! I wanted to hire Pete!
Lucas said that Hegseths established rapport helped me immensely with President Trump. Trump took my comments very seriously and the staff in the room did. He added that Trump and Congress adopted many of the policy priorities that Pete Hegseth had been advocating for years.
Lucas also stated, I did not inherit a train wreck. I inherited an organization that was poised to pass two of the most historic reforms in the VAs history. He credited Hegseth's vision and ability to build a grassroots army for the organization's success.
Dan Caldwell, a public policy adviser at Defense Priorities, also praised Hegseth. A former CVA executive director, Caldwell was there when Hegseth was at the helm. He said, Pete and the CVA team saw the problems at the VA continuing to get worse, and saw that most of the major veteran organizations were not taking those problems seriously. He made a strategic decision to position CVA as the group that was going to hold the VA accountable and also propose real reforms to the VA, which would fix the systemic problems within the organization. Pete and the CVA team zeroed in on accountability and choice as the key reforms.
Lucas cited the sheer size of the Department of Veterans Affairs in supporting Hegseths nomination to lead the Department of Defense. He said, The VA is one of the largest bureaucracies in the federal government, right behind DOD. They have a massive budget with a massive staff and with facilities all across the country. The bigger point is that Pete had the vision that helped reform the VA under President Trump, and now hes going to take that same acumen and apply it to the DOD.
Concerned Veterans for America grew rapidly during this pivotal period, with Hegseth overseeing more than 100 full- and part-time employees. Like any CEO, Hegseth had to make tough decisions, including firing poor-performing employees or employees who were no longer needed.
One source with intimate knowledge of the matter suggests that the allegations against Hegseth in the media likely stem from three former CVA employees, each of whom Hegseth firedtwo men and one woman. Other sources with ties to CVA concurred with this assessment. The Daily Signal asked its sources whether Hegseth had, or was rumored to have, a romantic relationship with the female employee. The answer was a resounding no.
One person argued that since Hegseths departure from CVA in 2016, these aggrieved employees have attempted to damage his reputation in the press. The corporate media is now interested in delving deep into these stories because of Trumps nomination of Hegseth to run the Pentagon, this person said.
Jane Mayer of The New Yorker wrote one such report. In her story for the magazine, Mayer alleged: A trail of documents, corroborated by the accounts of former colleagues, indicates that Hegseth was forced to step down by both of the two nonprofit advocacy groups that he ranVeterans for Freedom and Concerned Veterans for Americain the face of serious allegations of financial mismanagement, sexual impropriety, and personal misconduct.
Mayers report relies heavily on anonymous sourcing. In fact, not a single source who accused Hegseth of impropriety went on record. Nor does Mayer publish documents alongside her reporting, instead pulling only the occasional quote.
A seven-page whistleblower report sent to CVAs senior leadership in February 2015 accused Hegseth of these types of impropriety. The allegations involve CVA events held between 2013 and 2015 amid the organizations Defend Freedom tour.
Hegseths supposed drunkenness traveled with him and CVA across the country. The most salacious accusations against Hegseth from his time at CVA stem from a November 2014 trip to Louisiana, where he allegedly took his team to a strip club and had to be restrained from joining dancers onstage.
Parnell said the allegations that Hegseth took CVA staffers to a strip club were ridiculous. He told The Daily Signal, The New Yorker article cited the Louisiana trip and claimed that there was some strip club. There was not. This did not happen.
I never had the sense that that was an issue, another former CVA employee told The Daily Signal of the allegations made in The New Yorker. I never saw anything like that. Categorically, no.
I went on those tours, another person at CVA under Hegseths leadership told The Daily Signal. I was on the very first tour in 2012. I went on those tours in 2013, 2014, and never ever saw that. And trust me, if he had done that and he had a hangover the next day, I would have known.
I never saw him drink to excess, this person reiterated, adding that when he saw the anti-Hegseth headlines, I just thought, this is fake news.
Tim Unes is founder and president of Event Strategies Inc., a Republican event management and production company that put on events hosted by Hegseth for CVA. Unes said his company put on just shy of 100 events over four years, or one event nearly every two weeks.
When you host almost 100 events together, you get to know people pretty well, Unes said. I never saw Pete misbehave even once.
The allegation that angered Unes the most was that Hegseth was drunk on the job. He said, Someone said that he was going onstageanonymously, of courseafter he had been drinking. Whoever that is, if that persons willing to, you know, come out, I will debate them. And the reason I say that is because I own the company, Im always the stage manager. Im always the last person to speak to Pete, or whomever the principal is, before they go onstage.
Its a very tight area backstage, Unes added. Its a practical impossibility for Pete to be drunk and me not to know it, or even to have been drinking and me not to have known it.
While backstage for every event his company puts on, he explained, I am leaning in to whisper the latest instructions to [the client] or whatever changes might happento the program. So, Im literally within inches of their face. If Pete had been drinking, I would have known it. And I can tell you, he never did.
Unes also refuted the allegation that Hegseth had to be restrained from joining dancers onstage at a strip club. He said, I can tell you that never happened. I was there. I was the stage manager. I was the last person to talk to him before he went onstage. I would have known.
Unes added that he was shocked when he read the allegations against Hegseth. He said, Ive been doing this for 30 years. Ive seen a lot of things. But Ive never seen anything like this. Its just not true.
Another former CVA employee who worked closely with Hegseth told The Daily Signal that the allegations against Hegseth were completely false. This person, who asked to remain anonymous, said, I worked with Pete for years. I never saw him act inappropriately. I never saw him drink excessively. I never saw him act in a way that was unprofessional.
This person added, Pete was always very professional. He was always very focused on the mission of CVA. He was always very respectful to everyone he worked with. I never saw anything that would suggest otherwise.
The allegations against Hegseth have not only been refuted by his former colleagues at CVA, but also by his current colleagues at Fox News. Sean Hannity, a Fox News host and friend of Hegseth, told The Daily Signal, Ive known Pete for years. Hes a great guy. Hes a patriot. Hes a warrior. Hes a leader. Hes exactly the kind of person we need in the Department of Defense.
Hannity added, These allegations are just ridiculous. Theyre not true. Ive never seen Pete act inappropriately. Ive never seen him drink excessively. Ive never seen him act in a way that was unprofessional.
Hegseths nomination for defense secretary is currently pending in the Senate. If confirmed, he would be the first defense secretary in decades to have served in combat. His supporters argue that his military experience, combined with his leadership at CVA and his media savvy, make him uniquely qualified to lead the Department of Defense.
Despite the allegations against him, Hegseth remains focused on his mission. He told The Daily Signal, Im not going to let these false allegations distract me from my mission of serving our veterans and our country. Im going to continue to fight for our veterans, for our military, and for our national security.
As the Senate confirmation process continues, Hegseths supporters are hopeful that he will be confirmed. Parnell said, I believe in Pete. I believe in his leadership. I believe in his vision for the Department of Defense. I believe he will be confirmed.
Whether or not Hegseth is confirmed, his nomination has already sparked a conversation about the treatment of veterans and the need for reform in the Department of Defense.
His supporters argue that his leadership at CVA, his military service, and his media presence make him uniquely qualified to lead the Department of Defense and bring about the necessary reforms.
As the Senate confirmation process continues, Hegseths supporters are hopeful that he will be confirmed. Parnell said, I believe in Pete. I believe in his leadership. I believe in his vision for the Department of Defense. I believe he will be confirmed.
Whether or not Hegseth is confirmed, his nomination has already sparked a conversation about the treatment of veterans and the need for reform in the Department of Defense. His supporters argue that his leadership at CVA, his military service, and his media presence make him uniquely qualified to lead the Department of Defense and bring about the necessary reforms.
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