Sen. Tim Kaine Accused Pete Hegseth of Cheating on His Wife, but Did He?

Adultery is no longer the political scandal that it once was. Donald Trump has been married three separate times, and faced multiple allegations not just of adultery but of sexual assault and even rape. Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Department of Defense, has faced allegations of his own, including that he cheated on his wife.

Following a pretty thorough questioning from Senator Tim Kaine on whether he cheated, many want to know whether the allegations are true. Here's what we know.

The allegations that Hegseth cheated stemmed from a line of questioning from Kaine about whether he would treat the oath he took to serve the Constitution as seriously as he took his marriage vows. Kaine pointed out that Hegseth fathered a child with the woman who would become his third wife while he was still married to his second wife, and that a 2017 encounter with a woman who accused him of sexual assault was, at the very least, cheating.

Hegseth claims that that encounter was consensual, which means that it would have occurred while he was married to his second wife, Samantha Deering. Hegseth is now married to Fox executive producer Jennifer Rauchet.

The former Fox News host responded by saying that he had been completely cleared of any wrongdoing in the sexual assault case.

“Can you so casually cheat on a second wife and cheat on the mother of a child two months before?” Kaine asked. “How is that completely clear?”

It seems, then, that Hegseth does not deny the allegations of adultery, and the evidence seems to make that case nearly impossible.

During his testimony in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Hegseth declared that he was not guilty of any wrongdoing, adding that any accusations against him had been orchestrated by the left-leaning media to torpedo his nomination.

During the hearing, Hegseth was also asked whether someone who had committed sexual assault would be fit to lead the Pentagon, and he refused to answer.

“You can’t tell me whether someone who has committed a sexual assault is disqualified from serving as secretary of defense?” Kaine asked.

“Senator, I know in my instance — and I’m talking about my instance only — it was a false claim,” Hegseth replied.

Kaine then asked Hegseth whether he had ever committed an act of violence against any of his three spouses. Hegseth denied the accusation, but once again refused to say whether such actions would be disqualifying.

Hegseth, who has also been accused of being publicly drunk at work, also refused to say whether that kind of behavior would be disqualifying.

The cheating allegations, then, are only one small part of the case that's being built against Hegseth's nomination by the Democrats. Regardless of this case, though, it seems likely that Hegseth will ultimately be confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate. It seems that they don't think the behavior is disqualifying either.