Sen. Elizabeth Warren sent a letter to Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Defense Secretary, laying out a bevy of accusations and about 100 questions that she expects him to answer at his confirmation hearing on Tuesday.
Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel, penned the 33-page letter last week to Hegseth. It describes why she thinks he is ‘unfit’ to serve, referring to him at one point in the letter as ‘an insider threat’ due to a tattoo Hegseth has that Warren claims is tied to ‘right-wing extremism.’
‘Your confirmation as Secretary of Defense would be detrimental to our national security and disrespect a diverse array of servicemembers who are willing to sacrifice for our country,’ Warren writes in the letter. ‘I am deeply concerned by the many ways in which your behavior and rhetoric indicates that you are unfit to lead the Department of Defense.’
The letter starts off with accusations against Hegseth that include claims of financial mismanagement during his work operating two nonprofits, and accusations of heavy drinking and sexual assault.
The Massachusetts Democrat accused Hegseth of ‘gross mismanagement’ in running up debt and using business funds at the nonprofits he ran for personal expenses. She cited past colleagues of Hegseth’s who claimed to be privy to what took place. Warren also claimed in her letter that some of Hegseth’s past colleagues had shared he may potentially have a drinking problem, citing ‘at least 11 separate incidents in which [Hegseth has] been described as drinking excessively or inappropriately in public.’ Warren asks in the letter if Hegseth would resign if he were to be caught drinking again.
Warren also went after Hegseth’s policy positions in the letter, several of which were made during media appearances and in books.
Warren slammed Hegseth for previous comments about women in the military, including remarks he made that only men should be allowed in combat roles. Warren questioned Hegseth about other aspects of women in the military as well, including whether he thinks single women in the military should have access to birth control.
Hegseth, an advocate for getting rid of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs in the military, was slammed by Warren in her letter for calling for the firing of ‘any general, admiral, whatever, that was involved in any of the DEI woke s–t,’ during a podcast interview in November.
Warren added that in addition to potentially firing Defense Department officials promoting DEI, she also detailed fears about Hegseth’s willingness to help aid Trump in going after his political opponents. In one of Warren’s questions, she requested that Hegseth share his thoughts on the 2020 election and whether he believes Trump won, or lost fairly.
At one point in the letter, Warren highlighted that Hegseth had been removed from President Joe Biden’s inauguration in 2021 because of concerns he was ‘an insider threat’ following reports that his tattoo with the words ‘Deus Vult,’ was allegedly a ‘Christian expression associated with right-wing extremism.’
Other sections seek to harp on Hegseth’s alleged unwillingness to work with allies, including those within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which Warren suggested Hegseth will not adequately support considering his ‘skepticism’ over aiding Ukraine in its fight against Russia. Warren devoted an entire line of questioning to whether Hegseth will ‘undermine’ veterans’ benefits, and questioned what Hegseth might do to the Department of Defense Education Activity, the part of the agency that educates troops’ children.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Trump Transition spokesperson Bran Hughes said that Hegseth ‘looks forward to answering Senators’ questions and detailing his many qualifications at his hearing tomorrow.’
‘Senator Warren’s letter to Pete Hegseth is exactly what the American voters rejected on November 5,’ Hughes said. ‘Instead of focusing on ‘woke’ policies that have weakened our national defense, the voters gave a mandate to rebuild our military, and that’s exactly what a reform-minded Secretary of Defense like Pete Hegseth will do. Senator Warren’s letter proves why ideologically driven college professors have no place driving their social agenda at the Department of Defense.’
Efforts to reach Warren for comment for purposes of this story were unsuccessful.