Current MAGA insider ousted Pete Hegseth from veterans group for drunkenness: report
Pete Hegseth speaking with attendees at the 2022 Student Action Summit at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Florida (Gage Skidmore/Flickr)
December 03, 2024
In the wake of an explosive report from the New Yorker's Jane Mayer about Trump defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth's behavior while running a veterans' nonprofit organization, CBS News is now reporting that a current MAGA insider was part of the push to oust Hegseth from that job back in 2016.
CBS News' sources say that Jessie Jane Duff, a Trump 2024 campaign executive director, worked to shove Hegseth out the door while he was still in charge of the Concerned Veterans of America organization.
"While she worked at Concerned Veterans for America as a senior military adviser, Duff allegedly complained about Hegseth's frequentpublic intoxication, poor leadership and the toxic work climate he fostered within the organization," reports CBS News. "She also allegedly slighted Hegseth for his service in the National Guard, underscoring that he had only been a 'part-time' soldier and not a full-time active-duty servicemember."
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This comes after Mayer uncovered a whistleblower report about Hegseth's tenure at Concerned Veterans for America that described a number of disturbing alleged incidents, including one that took place at a Louisiana strip club.
"The detailed seven-page report... 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," reported.
"The report asserts that, under Hegseth’s leadership, the organization became a hostile workplace that ignored serious accusations of impropriety, including an allegation made by a female employee that another employee on Hegseth’s staff had attempted to sexually assault her at the Louisiana strip club."