The MeidasTouch Podcast - YIKES! Hegseth has DISASTER Confirmation Hearing on LIVE TV

Episode Date: January 15, 2025

MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas reports on the disastrous confirmation hearing of Trump’s pick Pete Hegseth to be the Secretary of Defense. Will he have enough votes to be confirmed? Ollie: Head to https://ollie.com/meidas and use promo code: MEIDAS to receive 60% OFF your FIRST BOX of meals when you subscribe today! Visit https://meidastouch.com for more! Remember to subscribe to ALL the MeidasTouch Network Podcasts: MeidasTouch: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/meidastouch-podcast Legal AF: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/legal-af MissTrial: https://meidasnews.com/tag/miss-trial The PoliticsGirl Podcast: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-politicsgirl-podcast The Influence Continuum: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-influence-continuum-with-dr-steven-hassan Mea Culpa with Michael Cohen: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/mea-culpa-with-michael-cohen The Weekend Show: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-weekend-show Burn the Boats: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/burn-the-boats Majority 54: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/majority-54 Political Beatdown: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/political-beatdown On Democracy with FP Wellman: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/on-democracy-with-fpwellman Uncovered: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/maga-uncovered Coalition of the Sane: https://meidasnews.com/tag/coalition-of-the-sane Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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law enforcement roles. I think you know that, right? We've seen how that mission is difficult for them in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, because that's not the training a uniformed military comes with. Do you support the use of active duty military in supporting detention camps? Senator, everything we will do would be lawful and under the Constitution. But I recognize that this administration has advocated its responsibility. President Trump is going to restore order at the border, prevent our enemies from invading. And yes, he has said, nasty deportations will be a part of what happens.

In the spirit of preserving the institution that I... That was Democratic Senator Slotkin grilling Pete Hegseth before the Senate Armed Services confirmation hearing regarding Donald Trump's nomination of Pete Hegseth to be the Secretary of Defense. Pete Hegseth has never commanded any significant group of people. He's never led an organization. There have been credible accusations against him of a sexual assault in the past where he signed non-disclosure agreements and entered into a settlement agreement. There have been credible accusations about him abusing alcohol and doing so in public as well. Let's take you into the hearing. I want to show you some of the highlights, or I should say the lowlights, as it relates to Hegseth. Here,

Democratic Senator Tim Kaine talks about some of the allegations against Pete Hegseth. Let's play it. Do you have nondisclosure agreements with either of those organizations? Not that I'm aware of, Senator. Many of your work colleagues have said that you show up for work under the influence of alcohol or drunk. I know you've denied that, but you would agree with me, right, that if that was the case, that would be disqualifying for somebody to be Secretary of Defense. Senator, those are all anonymous false claims and the totality-

They're not anonymous. The letters on the record here- They're not anonymous. On letters on the record here. They're not anonymous. On the record, people who work with me at Vets for Freedom, Concerned Vets for America, and Fox News. One of your colleagues said that you got drunk at an event at a bar and chanted, kill all Muslims. Another colleague, not anonymous, we have this, said that you took co-workers to a strip club. You were drunk. You tried to dance with strippers. You had to be held off the stage.

And one of your employees in that event filed a sexual harassment charge as a result of it. Now, I know you deny these things, but isn't that the kind of behavior that, if true, would be disqualifying for somebody to be secretary of defense and here tim kaine senator kane grills uh pete hexeth drilling down on the fact that this incident that took place at the hotel for which you signed a non-disclosure agreement you still admitted that you had sexual relations did you not here play this clip charges well no fully investigated and I was completely cleared. And I am so grateful for the marriage I have to this-

No, you've admitted that you had sex at that hotel on October, 2017. You said it was consensual, isn't that correct? Anything? You've admitted that it was consensual and you were still married and you just had a child by another woman. Again, how do you explain your judgment? False charges against me. You

investigated and I'm completely clear. You have admitted that you had sex while you were married to wife two after you just had fathered a child by wife three. You've admitted that. Now, if it had been a sexual assault, that would be disqualifying to be Secretary of Defense, wouldn't it? It was a false claim then and a false claim now. If it had been a sexual assault, that would be disqualifying to be Secretary of Defense, wouldn't it? That was a false claim. So you're talking about a hypothetical. So you can't tell me whether someone who has committed a sexual assault is disqualified from being Secretary of Defense? Senator, I know in my instance, and I'm talking about my instance only, it was a false claim. But you acknowledge that you cheated on your wife and that you cheated

on the woman by whom you had just fathered a child. You have been met at that. I will allow your words to speak for them. You're not retracting that today. That's good. I assume that Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth asks a very simple question. Do you know any of the nations, Mr. Hegseth, that are part of the ASEAN group? A-S-E-A-N. Do you know any of them? Hegseth gets it wrong. He can't name one country. Play this clip. I'm not qualified to do that. You could do acquisition and cross servicing agreements, which essentially are security agreements.

You can't even mention that. You've done none of those. You talked about the Indo-Pacific a little bit, and I'm glad that you mentioned it. Can you name the importance of at least one of the nations in the ASEAN, in ASEAN, and what type of agreement we have with at least one of those nations? And how many nations are in ASEAN, by the way agreement we have with at least one of those nations.

And how many nations are in ASEAN, by the way? I couldn't tell you the exact amount of nations, but I know we have allies in South Korea and Japan and in August with Australia trying to work on submarines with them. Mr. Hexer, none of those countries are allies across. None of those three countries that you've mentioned are in ASEAN. I suggest you do a little homework before you prepare for these types of negotiations. Another question here by Senator Duckworth. Let's play it. I want you to be able to tell me what kind of guidance will be given to those employees.

What will happen if whether or not you pass that audit? Have you led an audit of any organization? Yes or no? I don't want a long answer. Yes or no? Have you led an audit of any organization? Yes or no? I don't want a long answer. Yes or no? Have you led an audit of any organization of which you were in charge? Senator, in both of the organizations I ran, we were always completely fiscally responsible. Yes or no? Did you lead an audit? Yes or no? What are you afraid of? You can't answer this question. Yes or no? Did you lead an audit? Do you not know this answer? Senator, every part of my leadership of these organizations has been misrepresented from top to bottom. I will take that as a no. What were the findings? So there were no findings because

you've never led an audit. What? Going back to Senator Kaine, Democrat, let's play it. False claims were made against me. And ultimately- Your attorney used the phrase, you had the opportunity to attest my innocence in those false claims. But you didn't reveal any of this to President Trump or the transition team as they were considering you to be nominated for Secretary of Defense. You didn't reveal the action. You didn't reveal the criminal complaint. You didn't reveal the criminal investigation. You didn't reveal the settlement. You didn't reveal the cash payment. Why didn't you inform the commander in chief of the transition team of this very relevant

event? Senator, I've appreciated every part of the process with the transition team. They have been open and honest with me. We've had great conversations between the two of us, and I appreciate the opportunity that President-elect Trump has given me. But you chose not to reveal this, right? Because you knew it would hurt your chances. So you chose not to reveal this really important thing to the commander-in-chief of the transition

team because you were worried about your chances rather than trying to be candid with the future president of the United States. Are there any other important facts that you chose not to reveal to the president-elect and his team as they were considering you to be Secretary of Defense? Senator, I sit here before you in open book as everyone who's watched this process. With multiple non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements tying the hands of many people who would like to comment to us. Here, Hegseth does not deny a line of questioning from Senator Blumenthal

detailing how Hegseth ran veterans nonprofits into the ground. Let's play it. You took over the Veterans for Freedom in 2007. In 2008, you raised $8.7 million, but spent more than $9 million, creating a deficit. By January 2009, you told donors that the organization had less than $1,000 in the bank and debts of $434,000. By 2010, revenue at the Veterans for freedom had dropped to about 265 thousand dollars in the next year it had dropped further to 22 thousand dollars you don't dispute these numbers do you senator i'm extremely proud of the work me and my fellow vets did at Vets for Freedom. A bunch of young vets with no political experience.

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Would you carry out an order from President Trump to seize Greenland, a territory of our NATO ally Denmark, by force? Or would you comply with an order to take over the Panama Canal? Senator, I will emphasize that President Trump received 77 million votes to be the lawful commander-in-chief of this country. We're not talking about the election. My question is, would you use our military to take over Greenland or an ally of Denmark? Senator, one of the things that President Trump is so good at

is never strategically tipping his hand. And so I would never in this public forum give one way or another direct what orders the president would give me in any context. It sounds to me that you would contemplate carrying out such an order to basically invade Greenland and take over the Panama Canal. Another statement question from Senator Hirono here. Let's

play it. In addition to the sexual assault allegations, and by the way, the answer to my second question should have been yes. I have read multiple reports of your regularly being drunk at work, including by people who worked with you at Fox News. Do you know that being drunk at work is prohibited for service members under the UCMJ? Senator, those are multiple false anonymous reports peddled by NBC News that run directly contradictory to the dozens of men and women at Fox News Channel who I work with who came on the record and said, they've never seen that. Mr. Hegseth, you commit to holding leaders accountable at all levels. That includes you, of course.

One of the things that Pete Hegseth would continue to come back on is he would say, all these accusations, everything is part of a coordinated smear against him. But then also Hegseth would say that he found his savior, Jesus Christ, he would say, and then he's redeemed himself for all of his past troubles. So there's smears, but you also had to redeem yourself for past troubles. It doesn't really make much sense, but let's play this clip. And what became very evident to us from the beginning, there was a coordinated smear campaign orchestrated in the media against us. That was clear from moment one. And what we knew is that it wasn't about me.

Most of it was about President Donald Trump, who's had to endure the very same thing for much longer amounts of time. And he endured it in incredibly strong ways. So we- Here, Hegseth says that the dumbest phrase in the military is that unity is our strength. Here, play this clip. And I'll say it again, because I'm sure it'll be quoted to me at some point. The dumbest phrase in military history is our unity is our strength. No, our shared purpose is our strength.

There's another clip from Tim Kaine right here where Pete Hegseth is saying, I'm an open book. And then Kaine's like, yeah, but with lots of nondisclosure agreements and settlement agreements here, play this clip. Are there any other important facts that you chose not to reveal to the president-elect and his team as they were considering you to be secretary of defense? Senator, I sit here before you in open book as everyone who's watched this process with multiple non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements tying the hands of many people who would like to comment to us. This was a weird one from MAGA Republican Senator Mark Wayne Mullen, who I guess tried to humanize Pete Hegseth. But Mark Wayne Mullen, again, MAGA Republican Senator, says that he would be in

prison if it was not for his wife. Really? He would be in prison? Here, play this clip. I've made mistakes. And Jennifer, thank you for loving him through that mistake. Because the only reason why I'm here and not in prison is because my wife loved me too. We have Democratic Senator Mark Kelly, again, who served in the armed forces, astronaut, fighter pilot, who was a leader in the military and was a leader of organizations. Here's what he has to say. Let's clear to me that you're not being honest with us or the American people because you know the truth would disqualify you from getting the job. And just as concerning as each of these specific disqualifying accusations are, what concerns me just as much is the idea of having a Secretary of Defense who is not transparent.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back my... Here's another clip of Senator Kelly right here. Let's play it. Virginia, you needed to be carried out of the event for being intoxicated. Senator Anonymous smears. Just true or false? Very very simple summer of 2014 in cleveland drunk in public with the cva team anonymous smears i'm just asking for true or false question true or false answers an event in north carolina drunk in front of three young female staff members after you had instituted a no alcohol policy and then reversed it. True or false? Anonymous smears.

December of 2014 at the CVA Christmas party at the Grand Hyatt at Washington, D.C., you were noticeably intoxicated and had to be carried up to your room. Is that true or false? Anonymous smears. Another time, a CVA staffer stated that you passed out in the back of a party bus. Is that true or false? Anonymous smears. Another time, a CBA staffer stated that you passed out in the back of a party bus. Is that true or false? Anonymous smears. And finally, we'll close with another clip from Democratic Senator Slotkin.

Let's play. Abdicated and ignored for the last four years. That wasn't my question. I'm just asking, have you been involved? You're about to be the Secretary of Defense, potentially. Have you been involved in discussions about using the active duty military inside the United States? Senator, I am not yet the Secretary of Defense. If confirmed, I would be party to any number of conversations. But you haven't been in any of these conversations. Which I would not reveal what I have discussed with the President of the United States or not.

Have you been in conversations? Again, you're going to be in charge of three million people. The active duty that I know you care about, I believe you care about. So have you been in conversations about using the active duty in any way, whether it's setting up in detention camps, policing dangerous cities? Have you been involved in any of those conversations? Certainly, I have been involved in conversations relating to doing things this administration has not, which is secure the southern border and not allow floods of illegals to enter our country through an invasion.

There you have it, folks. That was the confirmation hearing. Let me know your thoughts in the comments, but I wanted to give you a good summary right there. Thanks for watching. Real quick, Medijas changed their algorithm to suppress political content. Please follow our Instagram at Midas Touch right now as we head towards 400,000 followers so you don't miss a beat.