'Will be ugly': CNN host flags 'the big tell' about status of Pete Hegseth nomination
Pete Hegseth is making the rounds on Capitol Hill trying to reassure senators over allegations about excessive drinking, sexual misconduct and other concerning behavior, but CNN's Michael Smerconish said there's an obvious indicator that his nomination is toast.
Aides working with Hegseth have told Donald Trump's team there aren't enough "no" votes to sink his nomination, but Smerconish doesn't think he has the full support of the president-elect, even if his allies are pushing hard to get him confirmed despite worrying reports about his background.
"I kind of get it on one hand, that, 'Oh, the media are coalescing around Pete Hegseth, and therefore we've got to defend him because this is a hit job,' but have you read the Jane Mayer piece in the New Yorker?" Smerconish said. "I mean, it would have to be diabolical to invent so many different accounts of so much behavior over so many years, and by the way, I'm sensitive to the idea that someone can clean up their act either through, you know, an epiphany of a religious nature or something else. But that still doesn't mean that we look past all that your history has entailed."
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The talk show host doesn't think Hegseth's nomination will last much longer.
"There's just too much there to ignore, and and if there are hearings, if it gets to that point, which I seriously doubt because the president is apparently, president-elect, is not working the phones for Hegseth – that's the big tell," Smeronish added. "If it gets that far, I think those hearings will be ugly, and the bigger picture and concern that I have is the demise of the background check. People ought to google the SF 86 and look at that 135-page document that people who want to serve in government have to fill out as a roadmap for an FBI investigation. I think it sets a very dangerous precedent if we are now saying we don't need that level of investigation."
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