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Sen. Elizabeth Warren sent a letter to President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, laying out a slew of allegations and about 100 questions she expects him to answer at his confirmation hearing on Tuesday.
Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, wrote a 33-page letter last week to Hegseth. She describes why she thinks he is “unfit” to serve, at one point in the letter calling him an “insider threat” because of Hegseth’s tattoo, which Warren claims is linked to “right-wing extremism.”
“Your confirmation as Secretary of Defense would be detrimental to our national security and disrespect the diverse array of service members who are willing to sacrifice for our country,” Warren wrote in the letter. “I am deeply concerned about the many ways in which your behavior and rhetoric demonstrate that you are unfit to lead Ministry of Defense.”
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The letter begins with allegations against Hegseth that include claims of financial mismanagement during his work managing two nonprofit organizations, and allegations of heavy drinking and sexual abuse.
The Massachusetts Democrat accused Hegseth of “gross mismanagement” in accumulating debt and using business funds in nonprofits he ran for personal expenses. She quoted former colleagues of Hegseth who claimed to have knowledge of what happened. Warren also claimed in her letter that some of Hegseth’s former colleagues said he potentially had a drinking problem, citing “at least 11 separate incidents in which [Hegseth has] described as excessive or inappropriate drinking in public.” Warren asks in the letter if Hegseth would resign if caught drinking again.
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In the letter, Warren also followed Hegseth’s political views, some of which have been expressed during media appearances and in books.
Warren criticized Hegseth for previous comments about women in the military, including his remarks that only men should be allowed in combat roles. Warren also questioned Hegseth about other aspects of women in the military, including whether he thinks single women in the military should have access to birth control.
Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth, left, and Senator Liz Warren, right. (Getty)
Hegseth, an advocate for ending the military’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) program, was sharply criticized by Warren in her letter for calling for the firing of “any general, admiral, whatever, who has been involved in any DEI woke s– t,” during a podcast interview in November.
Warren added that in addition to the potential firing of Defense Department officials promoting DEI, she also detailed fears about Hegseth’s willingness to help help Trump prosecute his political opponents. In one of Warren’s questions, she asked Hegseth to share his thoughts on the 2020 election and whether he believes Trump won or lost fairly.
At one point in the letter, Warren noted that Hegseth had been removed from President Joe Biden’s 2021 inauguration due to concerns that he was an “insider threat” after reports that his tattoo with the words “Deus Vult” was allegedly “a Christian term associated with right-wing extremism.”
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Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, leaves for a meeting with Sen. Ted Budd, RN.C., at the Russell Building on Tuesday, December 3, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ- Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images) (Tom Williams)
Other sections tend to speak to Hegseth’s alleged unwillingness to work with allies, including those within NATO, which Warren suggested Hegseth would not adequately support given his “skepticism” about helping Ukraine in its fight against Russia. Warren devoted a whole series of questions to whether Hegseth would “undermine” veterans’ benefits and wondered what Hegseth might do to the Department of Defense Educational Activities, the part of the agency that educates soldiers’ children.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, The Trump transition Spokesman Bran Hughes said Hegseth “looks forward to answering senators’ questions and detailing his many qualifications at tomorrow’s hearing.”
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“Senator Warren’s letter to Pete Hegseth is exactly what American voters rejected on November 5,” Hughes said. “Instead of focusing on ‘woke’ policies that weakened our national defense, voters mandated rebuilding our military, which is exactly what a reform-minded Secretary of Defense like Pete Hegseth will do. Senator Warren’s letter proves why he is ideologically driven faculty professors have no place in the Ministry of Defense.”
Attempts to reach Warren for comment for this story were unsuccessful.
