Hegseth’s Confirmation to Take Place Friday Evening

Sometime Friday night the Senate will be voting on the confirmation of Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense after a procedural vote cleared on Thursday in a 51-49 vote.

Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins voted with all Democrats against moving the vote forward.

It would take four Republicans voting against Hegseth to reject the nomination.

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On Thursday, it was reported that Hegseth provided information to Sen. Elizabeth Warren showing that he had paid $50,000 to the woman who accused him of sexual assault in a California hotel room in 2017. 

Hegseth’s lawyer says his client was the victim of blackmail.

A former sister-in-law provided a sworn affidavit to Senators noting Hegseth had exhibited “erratic and aggressive behavior over many years” and had made his ex-wife, Samantha Hegseth, “fear for her safety” while they were married. 

Samantha Hegseth denies any physical abuse in the marriage.

But Hegseth did not disclose the details of his divorce decree with Samantha, in which there is a provision titled “Avoiding Derogatory Comments,” in which they are prohibited from saying “anything negative” about the other parent in front of their children or allowing “third parties within their control” to do so. Furthermore, the divorced duo “will refrain from engaging themselves in any public discourse, including through either traditional media or social media, disparaging the other party,” and it obligates them to “take reasonable steps to encourage friends and family to refrain from doing so.”