Thread by @atrupar

I am going to put together a thread covering Pete Hegseth's confirmation hearing. Follow along for clips and commentary.

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Sen. Roger Wicker: "This nomination is unconventional, just like that New York developer who rode down the escalator in 2015 to announce his candidacy for president. That may be what makes Mr. Hegseth an excellent choice."

Wicker: "Regarding his personal conduct, Mr. Hegseth has admitted to falling short, as we all do from time to time. It is noteworthy that the vast majority of the accusations leveled at Mr. Hegseth have come from anonymous sources."

Sen. Jack Reed: "I do not believe you are qualified to meet the overwhelming demands of this job. We must acknowledge the concerning public reports... the totality of your own writings & alleged conduct would disqualify any service member form holding any leadership position ..."

Reed notes that a report detailing Hegseth's alleged egregious financial mismanagement of a veterans group has not been made available to any government agencies

Reed: "It is unacceptable that you did not meet with any other Democratic members of this committee before this hearing."

Reed: "You are the ninth nominee for secretary of defense that I have had the honor to consider. I have voted in favor of all your predecessors, including those in the first Trump administration. Unfortunately, you lack the character, composure, & competence to hold the position"

"You are a misogynist!" -- a demonstrator interrupts the Hegseth hearing

another demonstrator interrupts Hegseth's opening statement

a third demonstrator interrupts Hegseth's opening statement and is dragged out

Wicker begins his questioning: "Let's get into this allegation about, um, sexual assault, inappropriate workplace behavior, alcohol abuse, and financial mismanagement ..."

Hegseth claims it's a "coordinated smear campaign orchestrated in the media against us."

Pete Hegseth: "Our leftwing media in America today sadly doesn't care about the truth."

Wicker shuts down Reed's request for a second round of questions (second rounds are quite standards during confirmation hearings of this sort)

Wicker shuts down Reed's request to make the Pete Hegseth FBI report available to all members

Reed: "All of your public comments don't talk meritocracy. They talk about liberal democratic efforts that are destroying the military, 'those people are our enemies.' That's not meritocracy. That's a political view. Your goal as I see it emerging is to politicize the military"

Reed: "Your definition of lethality seems to embrace those people who do commit war crimes."

HEGSETH: In multiple cases they were acquitted

REED: The only reason you asked for a pardon is because they were convicted

REED: Would you explain what a jagoff is?

HEGSETH: I don't think I need to

R: Why?

H: Because the men & women watching understand

R: Perhaps some of my colleagues don't understand

H: It would be a jag officer who puts his or her own priorities in front of the warfighters

As we get deeper into Hegseth's hearing, let me say that if you appreciate this thread, please support my work by signing up for my newsletter. Independent media will be vital during the 2nd Trump administration & paid subscribers make my work possible. publicnotice.co/subscribe

Shaheen: "Should we take it that you believe that the two women on this committee who have served honorably and with distinction made our military less effective and less capable?"

Shaheen points out that Hegseth's views on women in the military magically became more enlightened after he was nominated for defense secretary

SHAHEEN: Will you commit to preserving the women, peace, and security law at the DoD?

HEGSETH: I will commit to reviewing it

SHAHEEN: Well since former President Trump signed the law, I hope he agrees with you

Hegseth suggests that women serving in combat roles if they can't meet the same standards as men is a bad idea and something Trump may reconsider

COTTON: Do you consider yourself a Christian Zionist?

HEGSETH: I'm a Christian and I robustly support the state of Israel and its existential defense and the way American comes alongside them as their great ally ... I support Israel killing every last member of Hamas

GILLIBRAND: Give me one example. I get you're making these generalized statements

HEGSETH: Commanders meet quotas to have a certain numbers of female infantry officers

GILLIBRAND: Commanders do not have to have a quota for commanders in the infantry. That does not exist.

Gillibrand: "You said in your statement 'you don't want politics in the DoD.' Everything you've said is politics. 'I don't want women, I don't want moms.' What's wrong with a mom, by the way? Once you have babies you're no longer able to be lethal? ... it's a silly thing to say."

Hegseth: "I volunteered to guard the inauguration of Joe Biden but was denied the opportunity to serve because I was identified as an extremist by my own unit for a Christian tattoo." (Hegseth at the time was a January 6 hype man on Fox)

not beating the misogynist allegations

Hegseth does not deny a line of questioning from Blumenthal detailing how Hegseth ran a veterans nonprofit into the ground

Blumenthal: "I don't believe you can tell this committee or the people of America that you are qualified to lead them. I would support you as the spokesperson for the Pentagon."

BLUMENTHAL: I assume you'd be willing to submit to an expanded FBI background check

HEGSETH: I'm not charge of FBI background checks

BLUMENTHAL: But you would submit to it and support it?

HEGSETH: I'm not charge of FBI background checks *takes a big gulp of water*

Hegseth: "Yes, women will have access to ground combat roles -- *given* the standards remain high. And we'll have a review to ensure the standards have not been eroded in any one of those cases. That'll be part of one of the first things we do at the Pentagon."

Ernst, who seems very positive about Hegseth, claims a priority of hers is "combatting sexual assault in the military" 🤔

HEGSETH: I was falsely accused in October 2017. It was fully investigated. And I was completely cleared

HIRONO: I don't think 'completely cleared' is accurate

Wow -- Hegseth steamrolls Hirono as she tries to ask him about accusations of being drunk on the job. He then dodges a question about if he'll commit to resign as sec def if he drinks on the job

HIRONO: Would you carry out an order from President Trump to shoot protesters in the legs?

HEGSETH: *dodges question*

HIRONO: That sounds to me that you would comply with such an order. You still shoot protesters in the legs

HEGSETH: *silent*

HIRONO: Would you carry out an order from President Trump to seize Greenland, a territory of our NATO ally Denmark, by force?

HEGSETH: President Trump received 77 million votes--

HIRONO: We're not talking about the election

NOTABLE -- Hegseth leaves the door wide open to banning DoD reimbursements for abortion healthcare and says, "I don't believe the federal government should be funding travel for abotion"

as Hirono has Hegseth on the ropes, Wicker tries to coach him to limit the damage

Sullivan: "Nobody wants an extremist or racist in our military, but ..."

Sullivan and Pete Hegseth says "woke" a bunch of times

"You had just fathered a child two months before by a woman who was not your wife ... I assume at each of your weddings you pledged to be faithful to your wife" -- absolutely brutal line of questioning here from Kaine to Hegseth on his infidelities and sexual assault accusation

Hegseth refuses to say whether allegations of beating your spouse should be disqualifying to serve as secretary of defense. Kaine says this demonstrates "an astonishing lack of judgement"

Kaine is absolutely demolishing Pete Hegseth

KAINE: You would agree that if you showed up to work drunk, that would be disqualifying for someone to be secretary of defense?

HEGSETH: Those are all anonymous false claims

KAINE: They're not anonymous

Kaine to Hegseth: "We have seen records with names attached to all of these, including the name of your own mother"

Kevin Cramer is big mad that the Dems are being mean to poor Pete

King points out that Hegseth made statements supporting torture before he was nominated as secretary of defense

Elizabeth Warren has receipts of all the times Hegseth said women shouldn't serve in combat roles -- he's said it many many times

using his previous public comments, Warren highlights that Hegseth's anti-women in the military views aren't just about "standards" -- they go deeper than that

Warren on Hegseth suddenly embracing women in combat (if they meet certain standards): "I've heard of death bed conversions. But this is the first time I've heard of a nomination conversion."

WARREN: You're quite sure that every general who serves should not go into directly into the defense industry, but you're not willing to make that same pledge?

HEGSETH: I'm not a general

Questioned by Gary Peters, Hegseth suggests he was too busy to meet with Dem senators before his confirmation hearing

Tommy Tuberville just makes shit up all the time

Peters: "Do you think the to raise the minimum standards of the people who serve us is to lower the standards for the secretary of defense? ... I have real problems with that."

Markwayne Mullin: "Senator Kaine, or I guess I better use the senator from Virginia, starts bringing up the fact that 'what if you showed up drunk to your job?' How many senators have shown up drunk to vote at night? ... how many senators have gotten a divorce for cheating?"

Markwayne Mullin says he'd be in prison if his wife didn't love him and says she's had to forgive him more than once. He then asks Hegseth to detail a reason he loves his wife. Mullin has to remind him to mention his kids 😬

Duckworth runs out of patience as Hegseth dodges her questions about if he's ever led an audit of an organization (he hasn't)

YIKES! Duckworth asks Hegseth to name a country that's in ASEAN. He names three -- none of which are in ASEAN.

"I suggest you do a little homework," she says.

Duckworth: "By the way, he's filed for bankruptcy six times. I'm not quite sure he's the kind of CEO you want to refer to as a successful businessman."

Let me remind you that if you appreciate this thread on the Hegseth confirmation hearing, please support my work by signing up for my newsletter. I think you'll enjoy Public Notice and paid subscribers make my work possible. publicnotice.co/subscribe

Rosen: "Your answers to these are too broad. People want to know -- are you willing to support our veterans organizations that will help our veterans get every damn thing they deserve?" (Hegseth still doesn't provide a direct answer.)

Schmitt is using the confirmation hearing not to ask Hegseth questions but to attack DEI because this is the Republican pastime

get a load of this question from Schmitt. i think there's a Simpsons meme that applies here

Schmitt asks Hegseth to pledge that he'll recruit back the service members who were fired over vax mandates. Hegseth goes even further and says they'll get backpay

Wicker shoots down Kelly's request for a second round of questions

KELLY: You needed to be carried out of the event for being intoxicated. True or false?

HEGSETH: Anonymous smears.

KELLY: You were noticably intoxicated and had to be carried up to your room. True or false?

HEGSETH: Anonymous smears.

Kelly: "Which is it -- have you overcome personal issues, or are you the target of a smear campaign? It can't be both. It's clear to me that you're not being honest."

Up is down for Jim Banks

SLOTKIN: Do you agree that there are some orders that could be given by the commander in chief that could violate the US Constitution?

HEGSETH: I reject the premise that President Trump is gonna be giving illegal orders

SLOTKIN: Have you been involved in discussions about using the active duty military instead the US?

HEGSETH: I would not reveal would I've discussed with the president or not

Hegseth dodges a question about if he supports the use of active duty military in US detention camps

Sheehy's opening question to Hegseth: "How many genders are there?"

He then asks him how many pushups he can do.

Pete Hegseth's confirmation hearing wraps up with a polite round of applause

That's the end of Hegseth's confirmation hearing. If you appreciate me bringing you all the best clips in this thread, please support my work by signing up for my newsletter. We will cover Trump 2.0 without sanewashing or pulling punches. Thanks. publicnotice.co/subscribe

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