Ex-GOP House staffer: Hegseth was 'uniquely unqualified' for his last Trump term job
Several years ago, during Donald Trump's first administration, Fox News weekend host Pete Hegseth was vetted for undersecretary positions, and a Senate staffer for a Republican official worked on the background check. What he found was enough to persuade him against the nomination.
Justin Higgins, the former policy advisor to Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-KS), told MSNBC that many of the more recent allegations happened after his office vetted Hegseth. He also said that they did a political vetting, not a criminal one, and not one that would examine national security concerns.
At the time, Higgins said that Hegseth was being vetted for a few undersecretary roles at the Department of Defense and a few undersecretary positions at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
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"It was taking public information and searching through all of the public records, public statements he's made, financial records, legal statements, and it appears to me based on my vetting experience that a lot of these new allegations came from amazing investigative reporting that resulted in tips," said Higgins, who has since switched parties.
He said that as a result they never saw the information that is coming out now. However, even in 2016, Huelskamp's office could see "how uniquely unqualified he was based on his resume alone."
"They would give us a list of a person to vet and potential positions they were being looked at," he recalled.
For Hegseth, "the reason was pretty clear: he has no experience working with Congress on creating and passing a large budget. He has no experience running or working in a large bureaucracy where he's in a senior position in that bureaucracy. And lastly, military policy experience, i.e., how do we modernize the military in the 21st century with the rise of AI, and also foreign policy experience. This gentleman has none of that."
The interview came after reporters told MSNBC there are new accusations about possible drunken behavior while working for nonprofits.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin frequently answers calls in the middle of the night with military emergencies.
"There have got to be Republican senators, senators asking themselves, 'Do I want somebody who maybe might have a drinking problem? Maybe might not be altogether with it at all hours, making those decisions?'" speculated host Katy Tur.
Hegseth has denied all of the allegations against him.
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