WASHINGTON — Senators received an affidavit Tuesday from the former sister-in-law of defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth in which she says his behavior caused his second wife to fear for her safety. The receipt of the affidavit comes after Senate Armed Services Committee staffers were in contact with Hegseth’s former sister-in-law for several days.
The former sister-in-law, Danielle Hegseth, submitted the affidavit in response to a Jan. 18 letter from Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., seeking “a statement attesting to your personal knowledge about Mr. Hegseth’s fitness to occupy this important position.”
Reed asked Danielle Hegseth to detail what she knew of “instances of abuse, or threats of abuse, perpetrated against any other person” and “mistreatment of a spouse, former spouse, or other members of his family,” among other requests.
Reed said in a statement Tuesday, “As I have said for months, the reports of Mr. Hegseth’s history of alleged sexual assault, alcohol abuse, and public misconduct necessitate an exhaustive background investigation. I have been concerned that the background check process has been inadequate, and this sworn affidavit confirms that fact.”
He added that “the alleged pattern of abuse and misconduct by Mr. Hegseth is disturbing. This behavior would disqualify any service member from holding any leadership position in the military, much less being confirmed as the Secretary of Defense.”
Danielle describes in the affidavit allegations of volatile and threatening conduct by Hegseth that made his second wife, Samantha Hegseth, fear for her safety.
Two days before Congress received the affidavit, NBC News reached out to Samantha Hegseth to detail some of the allegations contained in the affidavit and asked for comment.
In an email response Monday, Samantha Hegseth said: “First and foremost, I have not and will not comment on my marriage to Pete Hegseth. I do not have representatives speaking on my behalf, nor have I ever asked anyone to share or speak about the details of my marriage on my behalf, whether it be a reporter, a committee member, a transition team member, etc.”
She added, “I do not believe your information to be accurate, and I have cc’d my lawyer.”
Asked what information was not accurate and for comment on the affidavit, she replied on Tuesday: “There was no physical abuse in my marriage. This is the only further statement I will make to you, I have let you know that I am not speaking and will not speak on my marriage to Pete. Please respect this decision.”
A lawyer for Pete Hegseth, Tim Parlatore, dismissed the allegations.
“Sam has never alleged that there was any abuse, she signed court documents acknowledging that there was no abuse and recently reaffirmed the same during her FBI interview. Belated claims by Danielle Dietrich, an anti-Trump far left Democrat who is divorced from Mr. Hegseth’s brother and never got along with the Hegseth family, do nothing to change that,” he said in a statement.
“After an acrimonious divorce, Ms. Dietrich has had an axe to grind against the entire Hegseth family,” he added. “Ms. Dietrich admits that she saw nothing but is now falsely accusing Sam of lying to both the Court and to the FBI because of private, undocumented statements that she allegedly made 10 years ago.”
Both Pete Hegseth and Samantha Hegseth signed a 2021 court document that said neither parent claimed to be a victim of domestic abuse.
“I have chosen to come forward publicly, at significant personal sacrifice, because I am deeply concerned by what Hegseth’s confirmation would mean for our military and our country,” Danielle Hegseth says in the affidavit, a redacted copy of which has been reviewed by NBC News.
She adds that part of her reason for coming forward is “because I have been assured that making this public statement will ensure that certain Senators who are still on the fence will vote against Hegseth’s confirmation. But for that assurance I would not subject myself or others referred to in this statement to the public scrutiny this statement is likely to cause.”
The allegations in the affidavit paint a picture of Hegseth’s strained relationship with Samantha Hegseth. The two married in 2010 and divorced in 2017. They have three children.
Danielle decided to speak with the committee staff after consideration, sources said, but she notes in the affidavit that she had detailed the allegations in it to an FBI agent in a Dec. 30, 2024, interview conducted as part of its background investigation into Pete Hegseth.
The committee’s Republican chair and Democratic ranking member were not told about the information Danielle provided to the FBI when the Trump transition team briefed them about the results of Pete Hegseth’s background check prior to the hearing, according to two sources with knowledge of the content of the briefing.
According to the affidavit, Danielle Hegseth says she relayed additional information about Pete Hegseth to the FBI on Jan. 18th 2025, four days after Hegseth testified to the Senate Armed Services Committee as part of his confirmation process. The FBI declined to comment to NBC News.
Separately, Arthur Schwartz, an advisor to Hegseth and paid consultant to the Trump transition, said in an email on Monday, “Even SASC Democrats found these allegations to be too flimsy to raise with Mr. Hegseth or their Republican colleagues on the committee, which says a lot about both the allegations and NBC’s standards for publication.” Schwartz did not respond to an email on Tuesday asking for comment on the existence of the affidavit.
In the affidavit, Danielle notes that “much” of what she knows about Samantha’s situation she “learned from her around the time of the events in question”.
“However, I trust what Samantha told me for the reasons stated above, most critically because it was consistent with what I personally observed of Hegseth’s erratic and aggressive behavior over many years,” Danielle said.
Three days after Hegseth’s confirmation hearing before the Armed Service committee, some democratic staffers heard information now contained in the affidavit directly from Danielle for the first time, according to three sources.
This development comes after NBC News and other media organizations have reported concerns about Hegseth’s drinking. If confirmed, Hegseth will take up a major position on President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet, overseeing the Department of Defense and its millions of employees spread over the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and beyond.
The allegations also raise new questions about the scope and thoroughness of the FBI’s background check of Hegseth, what members and staffers of the Armed Services Committee knew, and when, and what the Trump transition communicated to the committee before last week’s confirmation hearing.
After his committee voted along party lines on Monday to move Hegseth’s nomination to the full Senate for a vote as soon as this week, Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss.,was asked whether he is concerned about more allegations against Hegseth coming to light.
“I think all of you probably heard a whisper of a rumor earlier today, which was anonymous, unsubstantiated and was contrary to some court documents that had been placed in the record at the hearing,” Wicker said.
A vote on Hegseth’s nomination in the full Senate is expected as early as Thursday. To be confirmed, Hegseth would need only a simple majority of the full Senate, meaning he could be approved with the support of 51 of the Senate’s 53 Republicans.
