Megyn Reveals Exclusive Info About the Media Smear Campaign Against Secretary of Defense Nominee Pete Hegseth

Here at The Megyn Kelly Show, we have been following Donald Trump’s nomination of Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense very closely (you can get caught up here and here). There was news on the allegations against him over the Thanksgiving holiday and more came out this morning, and I have some exclusive information of my own to share.

The New York Times Report

The New York Times published a report on Friday about how Hegseth’s mom, Penelope Hegseth, was apparently very, very mad at him in 2018. The outlet got its hands on an email in which Penelope Hegseth did not spare her son at all. She gave it to him nice and straight and did not mince words. 

There are a lot of people who would not want their mother’s chastising ending up in The New York Times – especially men who find themselves in the midst of a divorce caused by their own infidelity. I think most mothers would have a word with their sons about that when they have cheated on their wife, they have children, and they are involved in a custody battle in which they are verbally attacking the soon-to-be ex-wife. Pete’s mom certainly did not like it.

I have to tell you, this whole thing is ridiculous to me. I think it is very nasty of the Times to publish this April 2018 email. I don’t know how they got it. They say it was a source close to the Hegseth family. I bet it was the ex-wife or somebody close to her. In any event, I will give you a flavor of what was in the email:

“I’ve tried to keep quiet about your character and behavior. But after listening to the way you made Samantha feel today, I cannot stay silent. I feel I must speak out. You are an abuser of women. That’s the ugly truth…

I have no respect for any man that belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around and uses women for his own power and ego. You are that man (and have been for years) and as your mother, it pains me and embarrasses me to say that, but it is the sad, sad truth…

Sam is a good mother and a good person under the circumstances that you created, and I know deep down you know that. But for you to try to label her as ‘unstable’ for your own advantage is despicable and abusive. Is there any sense of decency left in you?

…We still love you, but we are broken by your behavior and lack of character.”

Those are the highlights… or lowlights. She is obviously mad because he was calling the ex-wife names in the context of their custody battle, and she let him have it. 

Penelope Hegseth told The New York Times that she thought it was despicable they were printing this and that she sent him an email immediately afterwards taking it back and saying she was wrong and sorry. But this is the way it goes. You get personally destroyed if you throw your hat in the ring, especially to be part of Donald Trump’s cabinet.

The Reporter

For what it’s worth, the reporter who wrote the New York Times piece on Hegseth, Sharon LaFraniere, also wrote the story about the alleged 2017 rape he was accused of. In her reporting, she missed – among other details – the following:

• The fact that his accuser was seen smiling with him on videotape a half hour before he allegedly raped her after supposedly giving her some date rape drug.
• The fact that she was back at her own hotel room by 4am where her husband says she was not slurring or stumbling and was apologetic. LaFraniere didn’t think that was relevant even though the woman claimed she had been drugged and was seen on camera fine – not drunk, not stumbling – at 1:30am smiling and locking arms with Hegseth.
• The fact that this woman refused the police request that she participate in what is called a ‘pretext call’ to Hegseth after the fact to try to get him on camera confessing to a crime.
• The fact that Hegseth was telling the cops that she said to him before she left the room, ‘I’m going to tell my husband I fell asleep.’ They reported that piece of it, but did not then report that her husband simultaneously told cops that, when his wife got home, she told him she had fallen asleep – a story that matches up perfectly with the one Hegseth gave the police.

That is the same person now reporting on the mom’s email. The media has no interest in being fair or balanced in reporting these facts and, therefore, skepticism is warranted. 

The New Yorker Report

Meanwhile, there is a report out today in a separate publication, The New Yorker, in which reporter Jane Mayer dives into what the headline calls “Pete Hegseth’s Secret History.”

Okay, I am open minded. What is it? What did he do? 

Well, when he ran two different veterans organizations – Veterans for Freedom and Concerned Veterans for America – he was forced to step down, she reported, because of allegedly being repeatedly intoxicated while acting in his official capacity to the point of needing to be carried out of the organization’s events.

She says ‘events’ plural.

One I can find involves a strip club he went to in February 2015 with, I guess, employees of Concerned Veterans for America employees. According to a memo filled out by some employees and sent to senior management, he had to be restrained while drunk from joining the dancers on the stage of a Louisiana strip club where he had brought his team. 

And then there was another story where he went to an event in October 2014 with three young female staffers and was reportedly so inebriated by 1am that the staffer who had driven him to his hotel in a van full of other drunken staffers asked for assistance to get him to his room. He was apparently passed out and two male staffers got him into his hotel. 

They also allege some financial impropriety, like spending that left the organization with less than $1,000 in the bank.

Exclusive Reporting

Here is what I can tell you based on my discussions with someone close to the situation: Pete Hegseth was not at a strip club. So, I expect that when he gets to respond to this, he is going to deny that he was at a strip club. I would assume he would then also deny that he tried to storm the stage while the strippers were dancing.

I am told the alleged whistleblower on whom most of these allegations depend is a very bitter person who is jealous of Hegseth and was fired by this organization. Additionally, Hegseth did not yell, as they allege in this piece, “Kill all Muslims” while drunk in a bar where everyone could hear. 

The source said that never happened and Donald Trump is still standing by him. While Pete admits to drinking a lot when he came back from his three tours of duty – Gitmo, Afghanistan, and Iraq – he has gotten it under control. And while he is not proud of some of his drunken behavior, there is nothing in here that reflects on the character of who he is today. 

That is where we stand on Pete Hegseth at this point.

You can check out Megyn’s full analysis by tuning in to episode 954 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.