‘He’s given me his facet of the story. It is smart to me. I consider him,’ Sen. Lindsey Graham stated.
A high Republican senator stated on Dec. 15 that he believes Pete Hegesth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for protection secretary, will likely be confirmed except individuals who have made accusations in opposition to Hegseth with out publicly disclosing their names come ahead.
“I’m in place with Pete, except one thing I don’t learn about comes out,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) stated on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“All of those are nameless allegations. He’s given me his facet of the story. It is smart to me. I consider him,” Graham stated on NBC. “Except any person is prepared to come back ahead, I feel he’s going to get by.”
Graham, the rating member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, referenced the affirmation hearings for Supreme Court docket Justice Brett Kavanaugh, which noticed a number of girls allege that the justice assaulted girls.
“5 folks accused Justice Kavanaugh of misconduct. Three have been outright lies. The opposite two, I feel, weren’t credible,” Graham stated. “So we’re not going to let that occur to Pete. You’re not going to destroy his nomination based mostly on nameless sources. Individuals have to come back ahead and make credible allegations, and we’ll see in the event that they do.”
In 2020, Hegseth paid the girl who filed the police report in trade for her signing a nondisclosure settlement, in accordance with his lawyer, Timothy Parlatore.
Hegseth informed Graham that the girl could be launched from the settlement, the senator stated.
“I’ve spoken about this extensively in TV interviews over every week in the past. There may be nothing new so as to add,” Parlatore informed The Epoch Instances on Monday.
Parlatore stated in an look on CNN that the girl was free to talk however that she would possibly face a defamation lawsuit “if she repeats these false statements,” or the allegations within the report.
The place of protection secretary, which is a part of the Cupboard, requires Senate affirmation. A nominee is confirmed if she or he receives a easy majority. Republicans may have 53 seats within the 100-member chamber come January 2025.
Numerous GOP senators have been holding one-on-one conferences with Hegseth, following Trump’s choice. As soon as Trump is sworn in on Jan. 20, 2025, senators will maintain a public affirmation listening to wherein Hegseth will reply questions. A committee, which may have a Republican majority, will then resolve whether or not to advance the nominee to the complete Senate for the affirmation vote.