By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-12-16 21:45:11 | Updated at 2024-12-17 00:01:48
2 hours ago
Donald Trump's nominee for defense secretary Pete Hegseth is willing to release a woman from a non-disclosure agreement to speak openly about an alleged sexual assault, Senator Lindsey Graham said.
The Republican South Carolina senator made the revelation on NBC's Meet the Press.
'He told me he would release her from that agreement,' Graham claimed.
'I would want to know if anybody nominated for a high level job in Washington legitimately assaulted somebody,' the senator continued.
Graham urged anyone making allegations to do so publicly, but he also signaled he is ready to vote to confirm the president-elect's pick to lead the military and believes his side of the story.
'I'm in a good place with Pete, unless something I don't know about comes out,' Graham said.
Hegseth, a veteran and former Fox News TV personality, was nominated to lead the Defense Department by Trump last month.
But his nomination has been hampered by accusations of sexual misconduct, alcohol abuse and financial mismanagement
Soon after his nomination was announced, it came to light he had paid off a woman who accused him of sexual assault at a hotel in 2017.
President-elect Trump's nominee for defense secretary Pete Hegseth in Capitol Hill on December 12 to meet with senators as he fends off allegations of sexual and personal misconduct
According to the police report, Hegseth took the woman’s phone before keeping her from leaving his hotel room where he then allegedly assaulted her.
Hegseth has denies all allegations against him and has insisted the 2017 incident at the hote was consensual. No charges were brought against him.
Earlier this month, Hegseth's lawyer Timothy Parlatore told CNN he believed Hegseth's accuser had already breached the agreement and said she should be prepared to be sued for defamation. He called her accusations 'false statements.'
Parlatore said Hegseth only agreed to the settlement because he feared public accusations could damage his career.
Graham called allegations against Hegseth 'disturbing' but noted that they are anonymous.
'Unless somebody's willing to come forward, I think he's going to get through,' Graham said.
Senator Lindsey Graham said Pete Hegseth told him he would release a woman from a non-disclosure agreement to speak publicly about her accusations of sexual assault against the defense secretary nominee
Graham meeting with Hegseth last week on Capitol Hill. The senator called their sit down 'very positive, thorough and candid' in a post
While the senator said he would want to hear about allegations, he also praised Hegseth's military service, said he has known him for years and called him a 'friend.'
Graham compared the allegations against Hegseth to those made against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2018.
The justice's accuser of sexual assault did come forward and publicly testified before the Senate and world before Kavanaugh was confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate to the lifetime position.
Graham sat down with Hegseth on Capitol Hill last week, as the embattled nominee rallies support from Republican senators ahead of his confirmation hearings.
After, the senator wrote that it was a 'very positive, thorough and candid meeting' and argued personal misconduct 'should only be considered by the committee if they are supported by testimony before Congress – not anonymous sources.'
But while Hegseth works to shore up GOP support ahead of what could be a bruising confirmation battle, it appears the public has turned against him.
A new AP-NORC poll conducted December 5 through 9 found only 17 percent of adults strongly or somewhat approve of him while 36 percent somewhat disapprove.
Another 37 percent said they do not know enough to have an opinion of the defense secretary nominee. 11 percent neither approve or disapprove.
But the president-elect appears to be sticking with his man.
Hegseth (far right) with President-elect Trump, Vice President-elect Vance and Speaker Mike Johnson at the Army-Navy game on December 14
Trump praised Hegseth Monday and said the Senate not confirming him would be a 'tragedy'
Trump brought Hegseth with him to watch the Army-Navy football game on Saturday in Maryland.
Images show him hanging out with Trump as well as Vice President-elect JD Vance and other Trump supporters at the stadium in Landover.
On Monday, he told reporters at Mar-a-Lago that Hegseth has made 'tremendous strides' over the last week.
'He's just a military guy, I think it's a natural. This was my idea,' Trump revealed.
The president-elect claimed when he asked Hegseth, the former Fox News personality didn't hesitate and said 'absolutely.'
'He gave up a tremendous amount. If this didn't work, it would be, it would be a tragedy,' Trump said.
Trump during his remarks did not comment directly on the sexual assault allegations against his nominee.
