READ: More Shocking Allegations Emerge from Affidavit by Pete Hegseth’s Former Sister-in-Law

AP Photo/Alex Brandon

A sworn affidavit sent to senators by Danielle Hegseth, Pete Hegseth’s former sister-in-law, contains a slew of shocking allegations, including more details about the Defense Secretary’s alleged alcohol problems and “emotional abuse” of a former wife that was the reason she “feared for her personal safety.”

Since President Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate the former Fox News morning show host to head the Department of Defense, Hegseth has been grappling with a multitude of critical stories: disturbing accusations of sexual assault (including a settlement he paid to one accuser), alleged incidents of alcohol abuse, his multiple reported infidelities, and an email his mother sent him amidst his divorce from second wife Samantha Hegseth in which she called him an “abuser of women.”

Hegseth has denied any wrongdoing and his mother walked back the email while staunchly defending her son. Nonetheless, Hegseth’s critics have still raised concerns over the allegations and argued that his résumé is far thinner than past nominees for a job that entails exercising command and control over our all military service branches, overseeing a nearly $900 billion budget, and supervising millions of people.

At his Senate confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Hegseth was grilled by multiple Democrats regarding the various allegations against him, his past controversial comments, and his lack of experience.

NBC News broke the report earlier Tuesday that Danielle Hegseth had been interviewed by the FBI back in December and then submitted this sworn affidavit to senators in response to a Jan. 18 letter from the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), who expressed frustration that neither he nor the GOP chair of the committee had been informed of her past interview or accusations.

The initial report on this affidavit noted that Danielle Hegseth accused Pete Hegseth of exhibiting “erratic and aggressive behavior over many years” that led Samantha Hegseth to fear for her safety.

Later in the day Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal published an article containing a link to the affidavit, with only minor redactions, and reported additional details about the allegations therein, that he “regularly abused alcohol to the point that he passed out at family gatherings, and once needed to be dragged out of a strip club while in uniform.”

The affidavit (embedded below) begins with Danielle Hegseth stating that “it is my personal opinion that Hegseth is unfit for the position of Secretary of Defense,” and she is “providing this statement as a proffer of the testimony that I would have provided to the Senate had I been called as a witness during Hegseth’s confirmation hearings,” with the contents of the affidavit reflecting what she previously told the FBI.

In the affidavit, Danielle Hegseth says she believes Pete Hegseth “has an alcohol abuse problem and was abusive to his ex-wife Samantha, as I understand those terms as a lay person,” and makes multiple allegations against him, that she observed herself or heard from Samantha Hegseth or other sources and believed because what she was told “is consistent with what I personally observed of Hegseth’s erratic and aggressive behavior over many years.”

Among the allegations, Danielle Hegseth describes how Samantha Hegseth “told me that she once hid in her closet from Hegseth because she feared for her personal safety,” at some point between 2014 and 2016, and that she was “aware that Samantha had a plan to deploy if she felt she needed to get away from Hegseth,” which she told to Danielle Hegseth and “another person close to her.” This plan involved Samantha Hegseth “texting me a safe word/code word” that would signal Danielle Hegseth to call this other confidante, who would then “fly out to Minnesota to help her.”

“Samantha did text me this code word sometime in 2015-2016, and I did call the other person to let that person know Samantha needed help,” the affidavit continues, with Danielle Hegseth emphasizing that she believes that “Samantha feared for her safety and that she did have this plan, not only because I was part of its deployment one time in 2015-2016 but also because it is consistent with what I personally observed of Hegseth’s erratic and aggressive behavior over many years.”

Danielle Hegseth further describes how she herself was “a victim of emotional abuse by Hegseth” during an incident in which she says “[h]e drunkenly yelled in my face one night in 2009” because he was angry that she “walked out of the room while he was telling a story” that had a “racial slant that bothered me.”

“He followed me out of the room and yelled at me that I was disrespecting him by walking away and that I disrespected his family,” Danielle Hegseth states, describing Hegseth as “very aggressive, in my face, dressed in his military uniform” and “very intimidating” as he towered over her with his six-foot stature towering over her five feet, six inch height. This yelling “went on long enough,” Danielle Hegseth adds, that a person whose name is redacted “had to come over and pull him away.”

“I have also heard Hegseth say that women should not have the right to vote and that they should not work,” the affidavit continues, and states that a person whose name is redacted “also once heard him say that Christians needed to have more children so they can overtake the Muslim population.”

The affidavit contains detailed allegations of Hegseth “abusing alcohol numerous times over the years,” with Danielle Hegseth telling how she and her ex-husband would frequently go to his house for holidays or to watch football games.

“At many of these events Hegseth would drink to the point of passing out in the room with the rest of the family as we carried on with the evening,” she says. “One Christmas, in 2008 or 2009, at his parent’s house, he drank so much he threw up and then passed out.”

Additional allegations about Hegseth and alcohol:

As I told the FBI, Hegseth acted this in way in public establishments, too. For example, on a night in 2013, at another family event, Hegseth, [REDACTED], and I went out to a bar later in the evening called the Wild Onion. [REDACTED] Hegseth got very drunk at this bar, and ultimately ended up dancing with gin and tonics in each hand and dropping several glasses on the dance floor, making a mess. When [REDACTED] finally dragged him out of the bar and as we walked back to my apartment, Hegseth repeatedly shouted “No means yes!” I took this to mean that, in his opinion, nonconsensual sex (rape) is ok. (¶ 16)

As I told the FBI, on another night in approximately 2013 Hegseth, [REDACTED], and I were out at a bar in downtown Minneapolis called Prohibition. Hegseth drank so much that night he passed out in the bar bathroom. Yet another night at Burch restaurant in Minneapolis, Hegseth drank so much at dinner the Uber driver had to pull over on the side of Interstate 94 so he could throw up. (¶ 17)

As I told the FBI, an instance I did not personally witness but that [REDACTED] told me about the next morning, was a night in 2009 when [REDACTED] and Hegseth were out in told downtown Minneapolis. Hegseth was in town for drill with the National Guard. They were at a bar and [REDACTED] noticed Hegseth had left. [REDACTED]found him at a nearby strip club called
Seville, drunk, in his military uniform, getting lap dances. [REDACTED] had to drag him out of the strip club. When [REDACTED] told me the story, he told me that Hegseth should not have done this and that it was a violation of military rules.” (¶ 18)

“I believe [Pete] Hegseth to be an erratic, volatile person with an alcohol abuse problem,” Danielle Hegseth’s affidavit concludes. “I do not believe he is trustworthy or of good character. It is my opinion he is unfit to serve as Secretary of Defense.”

Samantha Hegseth did not reply to the WSJ’s request for comment and issued the following reply to NBC News:

In an email response Monday, Samantha Hegseth said: “First and foremost, I have not and will not comment on my marriage to Pete Hegseth. I do not have representatives speaking on my behalf, nor have I ever asked anyone to share or speak about the details of my marriage on my behalf, whether it be a reporter, a committee member, a transition team member, etc.”

She added, “I do not believe your information to be accurate, and I have cc’d my lawyer.”

Asked what information was not accurate and for comment on the affidavit, she replied on Tuesday: “There was no physical abuse in my marriage. This is the only further statement I will make to you, I have let you know that I am not speaking and will not speak on my marriage to Pete. Please respect this decision.”

Read the affidavit below:

Hegseth Affidavit by sarahrumpf on Scribd

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