Matt Gaetz may have withdrawn his name from consideration to become Donald Trump’s attorney general over sexual misconduct accusations — but alleged sexual abuser Pete Hegseth is still fighting to persuade Republican senators to confirm him to one of the most powerful positions in government.

Hegseth was already facing an uphill confirmation battle to become the Secretary of Defense given that he is best known as a Fox News host with no government experience. The emergence of a disturbing sexual assault accusation against him from 2017 isn’t helping matters — and Trump’s team is pissed.

According to four sources familiar with the situation, some top Trump transition officials and others close to the president-elect have been puzzled, if not infuriated, that Hegseth did not preemptively inform them of the allegations against him before they made their way into the press — most notably through the publication of a police report detailing the alleged incident at a hotel in Monterey, California.

“How did he not know? Why didn’t he tell us?” a source close to Trump says. “Pete wasn’t interviewing for a job at McDonald’s; this is the fucking Pentagon! … Even if the allegations are fake, it doesn’t matter because he was supposed to tell us what we needed to know so we could be better prepared to defend him — not learn about it from the media.”

There was, the sources say, a vetting process for the Hegseth pick, but it did not uncover these details, nor was it especially invasive. Trump’s transition team did not sign agreements with the White House or the Justice Department to allow the FBI to conduct background checks on the president-elect’s nominees.

“When we ask, ‘Is there anything else we need to know about?’ that is usually a good time to mention a police report,” a Trump adviser says. “Obviously he remembered that this all happened and there is no way — I don’t think — he could have believed this wouldn’t come out once he got nominated.”

Editor’s picks

Steven Cheung, the Trump campaign’s communications director, says in a statement: “Pete Hegseth dedicated his entire life as a warrior for the troops and for our country.” He adds, “With Pete as our Secretary of Defense, America’s enemies are on notice and our military will be great again. We look forward to his confirmation and to him serving as Secretary of Defense.”

Mediate has also reported on the Trump team’s anger with Hegseth for not divulging more about the allegation before Trump announced the pick earlier this month, with one source noting: “He told the campaign there’s no issues.”

Hegseth went to Capitol Hill on Thursday to reassure senators that, despite the allegations, he should be placed in charge of the world’s most powerful military. Republican lawmakers gave mixed reactions when speaking with the media about Hegseth’s candidacy, with some brushing off the police report — which was made public Wednesday — as nothing more than allegations, and some, like Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), noting that it is a “pretty big problem, given that we have, you know, we have a sexual assault problem in our military,” per NBC News.

“The matter was fully investigated and I was completely cleared and that’s where I am going to leave it,” Hegseth told reporters after his day in Congress.

Trending Stories

Hegseth was accompanied by Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, who is currently a senator himself. Vance also accompanied Gaetz as he met with senators on Tuesday, a day before the congressman-turned-Cameo star withdrew his name from contention to become attorney general.

This story has been updated to include a comment from the Trump campaign.