'Outsize influence' of Pete Hegseth's wife creating alarm at Pentagon: report
From the day he first walked into the Pentagon as Donald Trump's latest secretary of defense, Peter Hegseth's wife has been raising eyebrows by inserting herself into his new career like a helicopter mom.
According to a new report from the Washington Post, Jennifer Rauchet Hegseth, the third wife of the former Fox News personality, has taken on duties at the Department of Defense normally assigned to actual employees despite not being a government employee or having any civil experience.
Jennifer Hegseth has been under new scrutiny after it was reported that she was part of a separate Signal chat the day her husband oversaw an attack in Yemen upon Houthiu rebels that was mirrored by another one –– dubbed "Signalgate" –– that mistakenly also included Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor in chief of The Atlantic.
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As the Post is reporting, on the defense secretary's first day on the job, his wife reached out to Pentagon staffers to "edit and post a video to the Defense Department’s social media accounts of his initial remarks to reporters."
That was just the beginning, reports the Post's Dan Lamothe.
“We would always hear that she was saying what kind of videos he should be doing, and what kind of statements he should be doing, and how the press should be handled,” recalled one Pentagon insider who asked to remain anonymous.
Jennifer Hegseth's interference has also extended to advising her husband on new hires as he purges the Pentagon, with the report adding, there is a feeling she wields "outsized influence" upon the decisions of her husband who has notably questioned the suitability of women in the military.
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According to the Post, "She met with potential political appointees as the Trump administration scrutinized people for positions at the Pentagon, two people familiar with the issue said. The role effectively had her conducting job interviews, they said," adding "Her involvement at the Pentagon is particularly sensitive given the scrutiny her husband faced during his confirmation process. Arm in arm, they attended meetings with senators, some of whom were disturbed by the disclosure that Pete Hegseth had paid a $50,000 settlement to a woman who accused him of sexual assault in 2017."
As for the defense secretary, he has defended his reliance on his wife, with whom he had a child in 2017 before marrying her in 2019.
Last year Hegseth told conservative podcaster Megyn Kelly, “his two J’s” — Jesus and Jennifer — changed his life, explaining, "Without those two J’s. I wouldn’t be sitting here right now.”