Many of US President-elect Donald Trump’s cupboard nominees are underneath intense scrutiny, together with allegations of misconduct.
His protection secretary, Pete Hegseth, denies the sexual assault allegation, and potential legal professional common Matt Gaetz is on the heart of an ethics investigation.
Trump’s well being secretary nominee, Robert F Kennedy Jr, is dealing with extreme criticism for his vaccine skepticism.
Trump will want the US Senate to substantiate these nominees when he takes workplace in January, and though the chamber will likely be managed by his Republican colleagues, his Cabinet contenders will face intense questioning throughout bipartisan hearings.
Police mentioned Friday that Hegseth, the Pentagon nominee, was being investigated for an alleged sexual assault in California in 2017.
Hegseth, a Fox News host and veteran of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, has by no means been arrested and denies any wrongdoing.
Trump spokesman Steven Cheung mentioned: “Mr. Hegseth has vigorously denied all allegations and no fees have been filed.”
Meanwhile, the BBC’s US accomplice CBS reported that Hegseth had as soon as been flagged as a possible “inner menace” by army colleagues who thought he had a white supremacist tattoo.
Hegseth has denied any hyperlinks to extremist teams.
A former member of the Minnesota National Guard, he has a tattoo on his bicep that reads “Deus Vult,” a Latin phrase which means “God wills it,” a rallying cry for Christian crusaders within the Middle Ages.
Retired Sergeant DeRicko Gaither instructed CBS, “I regarded it up and that tattoo had ties to extremist teams.” He mentioned he reported the physique’s ink to management.
US Vice President-elect J.D. Vance rushed to Hegseth’s protection, saying the Latin phrase is nothing greater than a Christian motto. He accused the Associated Press, which first reported the tattoo story, of “disgusting anti-Christian bigotry.”
Hegseth was barred from serving as an officer in Washington DC throughout President Joe Biden’s inauguration in 2021. He claimed in a ebook printed earlier this yr that he was rejected from the place due to his tattoos.
Meanwhile, Trump’s chosen legal professional common nominee, Matt Gaetz, is combating allegations of misconduct whereas a member of Congress.
He resigned from his Florida seat within the US House of Representatives on Thursday, hours after Trump’s nomination to steer the US Justice Department.
His exit blocked the discharge of a congressional report into allegations of sexual misconduct, illicit drug use and misuse of marketing campaign funds.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, requested Friday that the report stay secret as a result of Gaetz is not a member of the physique, even amid bipartisan requires it to be shared as a part of his vetting for the highest U.S. legal professional’s position . .
Hours later, the lawyer for 2 ladies who testified to the House Ethics Committee about Gaetz urged lawmakers to launch the panel’s report.
The lawyer, Joe Leppard, instructed CBS that one in every of his purchasers had seen Gaetz have intercourse with an underage woman in Florida in 2017. Leppard urged lawmakers to launch the House Ethics Committee’s report.
However, the Justice Department investigated the allegations final yr and declined to press fees towards Gaetz.
He beforehand denied having intercourse with a 17-year-old whereas he was an grownup at a celebration in Orlando.
The 42-year-old Florida congressman wrote on X on Friday that “lies have been used as a weapon to attempt to destroy me.”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr, Trump’s nominee to move the US Department of Health and Human Services, is in the meantime dealing with backlash for his vaccine skepticism.
Shares of vaccine makers and healthcare corporations world wide fell sharply on Friday, as buyers reacted to the nomination of an activist who vowed to crack down on “Big Pharma.”
The head of the American Public Health Association, which has 25,000 well being professionals, instructed the BBC that Kennedy’s criticism of vaccinations “has already triggered severe injury to the nation’s well being.”
George C. Benjamin added that Kennedy was “completely the improper particular person for this.”
Trump himself has thus far circuitously addressed the criticisms leveled at his decisions.
The president-elect remains to be hiring for his incoming administration, with jobs similar to FBI director and Treasury secretary but to be named.
