GOP insiders sought Hegseth’s removal as leader of veterans’ group in 2016
Monterey, California — The fight over President-elect Trump’s pick of Pete Hegseth as defense secretary could become a test of the loyalty of Republican stalwarts — some of whom were the ones who ousted Hegseth a decade ago. The central figure in Geseth’s role as head of veterans affairs. The charity was hit with allegations of financial mismanagement, repeated drunkenness and sexual misconduct.
Jessie Jane Duff, a Navy veteran and one of the people who led the effort to oust Hegseth as head of Concerned Veterans of America in 2016, according to multiple Republican insiders familiar with the matter. The team veteran served as one of the executive directors of President-elect Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign. All spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal from party insiders. Duff is seeking to remove Hegseth from his leadership role in veterans groups, CBS News has learned.
Duff allegedly complained that Hegseth often Public intoxication, poor leadership and a toxic work atmosphere he created within the organization, according to Republican insiders familiar with the matter. She also allegedly belittled Hegseth for serving in the National Guard, stressing that he was only a “part-time” soldier and not a full-time active-duty soldier, according to Republican insiders who spoke to CBS News.
Tax filings show Hegseth became a director of Veterans for Freedom in 2017. 2006 Served as executive director in 2007. 2008The organization raised more than $8.7 million in revenue but spent more than $9 million, including significant amounts on media buys, events and initiatives, documents show.
By 2010, tax declaration Performance revenue dropped to just under $265,000. In the nonprofit’s 2011 filing, Hegseth was listed as an “officer,” not its executive director.
Hegseth begins leading America’s Concerned Veterans 2011. go through 2016The year Hegseth resigned as executive director, documents show the organization raised $15.9 million and listed expenses of $16.4 million.
The following year—— The tax filing said the nonprofit reduced spending after “major programs enacted during the previous fiscal year were paused” after Hegers stepped down.
The documents also show that America Concerned Veterans hired Hegseth’s brother, Philip Hegseth, while he was in college.
The New Yorker Sunday Late Night publish The new information was gleaned from internal records and interviews with former employees of the group.
The magazine revealed that a previously undisclosed “whistleblower report” detailed allegations of sexual misconduct by Hegseth and other men at the CVA, with multiple public incidents occurring while he was still married and serving in the Army National Guard. Drunk incident.
CBS News has learned that the allegations contained in the seven-page report were originally made by Duff and were circulated privately to broader Republican circles outside of America’s Concerned Veterans in 2018, when Hegseth Name nominated for Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
A source close to Hegseth told CBS News that the report was anonymously sent to Fox News several years ago in an alleged “attempt to get him fired” and claimed Fox had investigated it, but It was determined to be “unfounded”.
“Fox News has no record of receiving this report,” a network spokesperson said.
Sources described Duff as a “disgruntled former employee” of CVA who spread “false claims” about Hegseth in an attempt to damage his TV career. “She’s jealous because she wants to get into television,” the source said. Hegseth has fired Duff from Concerned Veterans of America, according to two sources.
Sources told CBS News that in 2016, Charles and David Koch, the billionaire Republican donors who fund America’s Concerned Veterans, pressured Hegerseth after staff complained about Hegerseth’s leadership of the organization. Seth steps down. According to Hegseth and the organization, he resigned in January 2016 in a mutual decision that refuted rumors of a feud. military times.
Hegseth’s attorney, Tim Parlatore, denies all allegations against his client.
As Hegseth walked through the Capitol to visit with senators who will speak out on his expected nomination for defense secretary, CBS News asked him Monday why he resigned from the CVA. He walked silently and didn’t respond. Hegseth also declined to comment when asked if he was concerned the latest accusations could derail his nomination as defense secretary.
Before Hegers was announced as Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, Duff was his most vocal critic in private circles, according to Republican sources who spoke to CBS News.
But now, Duff has publicly backed his impending nomination to lead the Department of Defense and has defend His opposition to women’s participation in the war was controversial.
CBS News reached out to Duff multiple times on Monday but did not respond.
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Duff is a Newsmax analyst who served as an adviser to America Concerned Veterans, while Hegseth led the organization from 2013 to 2016. The organization was founded in 2011 as a Koch-funded nonprofit called the Veterans Economic Freedom Trust.
The organization promotes conservative views primarily in the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs, specifically advocating for the latter to move towards a privatized health care system.
Hegseth, 44, a former co-host of “Fox & Friends Weekends,” faces a barrage of scrutiny over his personal life and whether he has experience running the Department of Defense and budget of the nation’s largest government agency. Valued at $842 billion, nearly 3 million employees and 750 military installations around the world.
Margaret Hoover, host of PBS’ “Fire Line” and former adviser to Vets for Freedom, said in a statement interview CNN called Hegseth’s management of the organization “terrible.” Hoover expressed doubts about his ability to manage the massive Department of Defense, which at the time had a staff of fewer than 10 people and a budget of less than $10 million.
“Based on what I saw over those years, I don’t know how he was going to run an organization with an $857 billion budget and 3 million people,” she said.
In response to CBS News’ questions about the finances of Veterans Freedom under his leadership, Hegseth simply said: “I love working for the best in the military, and I’m honored that the President of the United States has given me the opportunity to represent the military. The best among them.”
The whistleblower report received by The New Yorker also details multiple incidents in which Hegers allegedly became drunk at work “to the point of needing to be removed from the organization’s events.”
When asked by CBS News on Capitol Hill if he was drunk while on a work trip, Hegseth responded: “Wouldn’t dignify that with a response.”
A source close to Hegseth acknowledged that people did “occasionally” drink too much at the events, but insisted the report was wrong about Hegseth.
“It’s not news that veterans organizations made up of recently discharged veterans drink or drink too much,” they said. “That’s the entire business model of the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars).”
The source said Hegseth has openly admitted that he “drinked too much” in the past, adding: “That’s not the life Pete is in now. He’s definitely matured a lot in the last ten years.”
Last month, it was disclose Hegseth secretly paid a financial settlement to a woman who accused him of raping her at a 2017 banquet for Republican women at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Monterey, California. monterey city release The 2017 investigation into Hegseth.
The accuser, who has not been named, said she felt as if she was drugged and recalled saying “no” multiple times while in the hotel room with Hegseth. She claimed he prevented her from leaving and got on top of her. CBS News does not publicly name individuals who report alleged sexual assault unless that person chooses to identify themselves publicly.
“The Monterey Police Department has investigated this allegation and they have found no evidence,” Hegseth’s attorney, Timothy Parlatore, previously told CBS News.
The Monterey Police Department forwarded reports of the alleged assault to the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office in 2017 for review. Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine M. Pacioni said last month that her office “declined to file charges” in January 2018 because no one “raised charges beyond a reasonable doubt.” supported by external evidence. “
Hegseth denies the accusations and claims the encounter was consensual.
