Former Fox News star Megyn Kelly attended the Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday for President-elect Trump’s Secretary of Defense nominee, fellow ex-Fox News host Pete Hegseth. With the photo below, Kelly wrote: “Guess who’s in DC for the Pete Hegseth confirmation hearing? …Should be an exciting day!”
During the hearing, Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), who was Hillary Clinton’s VP pick in 2016 and sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, told Hegseth that many of his colleagues have reported that he would show up to work under the influence of alcohol.
When Hegseth replied that “they are all anonymous false claims,” Kaine said, “They’re not anonymous, we’ve seen records with names attached to them.”
On X, Kaine shared a clip from the hearing and wrote: “There is a long, documented history of Pete Hegseth’s on-the-job intoxication and completely inappropriate behavior. Under no circumstances can our national security be threatened by intoxicated leadership.”
Kelly replied to Kaine: “No, there isn’t. He should sue you for this post.”
No, there isn’t. He should sue you for this post. https://t.co/MbYvNOZz5N
— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) January 16, 2025
In December, The New Yorker reported on Hegseth’s time (2013-2016) as president of the nonprofit organization Concerned Veterans for America (CVA) and a “detailed seven-page report” which was allegedly compiled by “multiple” former CVA employees and sent to senior management in 2015.
According to the The New Yorker‘s reporting, the CVA report on Hegseth “states that, at one point, Hegseth 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 lists other “serious accusations of impropriety.”
Regarding Kelly’s suggestion that Hegseth sue Kaine: According the Speech and Debate Clause in the US Constitution, Senators generally cannot be sued for what they say on the Senate floor.
The purpose of the clause is to prevent a U.S. President or other officials of the executive branch from having members arrested on a pretext to prevent them from voting a certain way or otherwise taking actions with which the president might disagree. It also protects members from civil suits related to their official duties.
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