Pete Hegseth’s Mom Called Him An ‘Abuser Of Women’ In Email: Report | EUROtoday

Penelope Hegseth, mom of former Fox News host Pete Hegseth, wrote a heated e mail calling him an “abuser of women” within the midst of his 2018 divorce proceedings, in keeping with The New York Times — a revelation that comes as Hegseth gears up for affirmation hearings to change into President-elect Donald Trump’s secretary of protection.

The Times stated the Penelope Hegseth copied Samantha Hegseth, Pete’s second spouse, on the message on the time it was despatched. The outlet acquired a duplicate from one other particular person with ties to the household.

In the message, Penelope Hegseth wrote that she needed to communicate up “after listening to the way you made Samantha feel today.”

“You are an abuser of women — that is the ugly truth and I have no respect for any man that belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around, and uses women for his own power and ego,” she wrote. “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.”

Around 400 phrases of the message had been printed within the Times, with one sentence redacted for privateness causes.

Penelope Hegseth instructed the Times that she rapidly regretted the e-mail, and despatched a follow-up to apologize to her son. She instructed the paper that publishing the e-mail was “disgusting,” a sentiment that was echoed by Trump’s communications director, Steven Cheung, who referred to as it “despicable.”

Pete Hegseth has been married thrice and has fielded quite a few accusations of infidelity; he and Samantha share three sons between them. He married a Fox News colleague, Jennifer Rauchet, in 2019, after she had a baby by him in 2017.

“For you to try to label [Samantha] as ‘unstable’ for your own advantage is despicable and abusive. Is there any sense of decency left in you?” Hegseth’s mom requested in 2018.

“I don’t want to debate with you. You twist and abuse everything I say anyway. But… On behalf of all the women (and I know it’s many) you have abused in some way, I say … get some help and take an honest look at yourself,” Penelope Hegseth wrote.

Pete Hegseth’s nomination this month, regardless of his lack of senior navy management expertise — he served within the Army National Guard within the rank of main — shocked Washington. And a 2017 sexual assault allegation revealed within the lead-up to his affirmation hearings could solid additional doubt on his health for workplace.

A lady instructed police that she believed Hegseth drugged and raped her at a Republican girls’s convention in Monterey, California, though no expenses had been ever filed and he denies that the sexual encounter was nonconsensual.

Hegseth paid the girl a settlement to maintain quiet in regards to the allegation out of worry for his Fox News gig, his lawyer stated, per the Times.

After Trump stated he wished Hegseth to guide your complete U.S. navy, Fox News contributor Leslie Marshall spoke as much as criticize her colleague’s historical past of alleged misconduct, noting that infidelity is against the law below the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

“You can’t lead an entire organization and all these people if you can’t lead by example,” Marshall stated.

A handful of Republican senators have expressed considerations with Hegseth’s character.

“It’s a pretty big problem, given that we have, you know, we have a sexual assault problem in our military,” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) stated earlier this month.