Would-be defense chief Pete Hegseth and attorney general choice Matt Gaetz are under scrutiny

Two of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s key nominations – Fox News host Pete Hegseth for defense secretary and former lawmaker Matt Gaetz as attorney general – have become embroiled in sex controversies that could threaten their Senate confirmations to serve in Trump’s Cabinet.

Hegseth, 44, paid an undisclosed amount to a woman who accused him of sexual assault in 2017 to avert the threat of what he viewed as a baseless claim becoming public, his lawyer, Tim Parlatore, told U.S. news media this weekend.

Gaetz, 42, resigned abruptly last week from the House of Representatives near the end of his fourth two-year term, just days before the House Ethics Committee was nearing conclusion of an investigation into whether he had had sex with a 17-year-old girl and engaged in illicit drug use. Some lawmakers have described Gaetz showing nude cellphone pictures of his sexual conquests in the House chamber.

    • jonne@infosec.pub
      23·
      4 days ago

      RFK Jr and Trump should be in this list as well. It’s probably faster to list the ones that aren’t sexual predators.

        • meeeeetch@lemmy.world
          4·
          3 days ago

          Not actually named to a cabinet post. Government Accounting Office does the thing he’s about to get paid to pretend to do. DOGE is gonna be like the Chamber of Commerce, a private entity that a bunch of people will just believe is part of the government because it has an official sounding name.

          • vividspecter@lemm.ee
            2·
            3 days ago

            A distinction without a difference in the case of a Trump administration. It’s not like they care about conventions or the rule of law. You can expect Trump to hand over to Musk whatever confidential documents he can get his hands on, if only to brag about it.

            I expect Musk will use this as another opportunity for insider trading as well.