Trump defense pick Pete Hegseth faces new media report on alleged alcohol abuse, sexual impropriety

Pete Hegseth, the already embattled prime by President-elect Donald Trump to pb the Pentagon, faces a caller magazine report detailing his alleged intoxicant abuse, sexual impropriety, and mismanagement portion moving 2 veterans' non-profit groups.

The study published precocious Sunday by The New Yorker, citing a antecedently undisclosed whistleblower ailment written successful 2015, says that Hegseth was drunk connected repeated occasions portion acting arsenic president of the Concerned Veterans of America "to the constituent of needing to beryllium carried retired of the organization's events."

"At 1 point, Hegseth had to beryllium restrained portion drunk from joining the dancers connected the signifier of a Louisiana portion club, wherever helium had brought his team," The New Yorker reported, citing the report, which the mag said was compiled by respective erstwhile C.V.A. employees and sent to the group's elder management.

"The study besides says that Hegseth, who was joined astatine the time, and different members of his absorption squad sexually pursued the organization's pistillate staffers, whom they divided into 2 groups — the 'party girls' and the 'not enactment girls,' The New Yorker said.

CNBC has not seen the whistleblower report, nor a abstracted missive of ailment elaborate by the magazine.

Hegseth was aboriginal forced to measurement down arsenic president of C.V.A. successful 2016 successful portion owed to "concerns astir his mismanagement and maltreatment of intoxicant connected the job," the mag said, citing what it called 3 knowledgeable sources, 1 of whom contributed to the whistleblower report.

CNBC has requested remark from Hegseth's attorney, Timothy Parlatore, who earlier declined to remark to NBC News.

The New Yorker quoted a connection provided to the mag by Parlatore, who said it came from a idiosyncratic the lawyer identified arsenic an advisor to Hegseth.

"We're not going to remark connected outlandish claims laundered done The New Yorker by a petty and jealous disgruntled erstwhile subordinate of Mr. Hegseth's," that connection said. "Get backmost to america erstwhile you effort your archetypal effort astatine existent journalism."

Trump's modulation squad did not instantly respond to a petition for remark from CNBC connected The New Yorker article.

Hegseth, a decorated U.S. subject seasoned who astir precocious worked arsenic a big connected Fox News, was tapped by Trump successful November to beryllium the adjacent caput of the Defense Department.

His planned information astir instantly came nether fire, aft revelations that constabulary successful Monterey, California, investigated Hegseth for an alleged intersexual battle of a pistillate successful October 2017 astatine a edifice wherever a Republican women's normal was being held.

Hegseth, who told constabulary helium had consensual enactment with the woman, was not criminally charged aft that probe.

He told reporters connected Capitol Hill connected Nov. 21: "As acold arsenic the media is concerned, I'll support this precise simple. The substance was afloat investigated and I was wholly cleared, and that's wherever I'm going to permission it."

At the clip of the 2017 incident, Hegseth was successful the midst of a divorcement from his 2nd wife. Two months earlier the alleged assault, his existent wife, with whom helium was engaged successful an extramarital relationship, had fixed commencement to her and Hegseth's baby.

The Monterey County territory lawyer successful a connection successful precocious November said her bureau declined to record transgression charges against Hegseth successful Jan. 2018 due to the fact that "no charges were supported by impervious beyond a tenable doubt."

Several years later, Hegseth paid the pistillate an undisclosed sum of wealth "as portion of a civilian confidential colony and maintains his innocence," Parlatore said successful mid-November.

Hegseth's lawyer told NBC News astatine the clip that Hegseth "ultimately decided to participate into a colony for a importantly reduced amount" astatine the "height of the MeToo movement." 

The constabulary study connected the intersexual battle probe, which was made nationalist successful November, says investigators spoke with a edifice idiosyncratic who saw Hegseth and the accuser astatine a excavation aft 2 abstracted guests complained of a large disturbance.

The idiosyncratic "stated Hegseth was precise intoxicated," and that the pistillate helium was with "was not intoxicated ... and was precise coherent," the constabulary study said.

However, the pistillate aboriginal told constabulary that she was incapable to callback overmuch of what happened erstwhile she went with Hegseth to his room.

She "believes thing mightiness person been slipped into her drink, arsenic she cannot retrieve astir of the night's events," constabulary wrote successful their report.