The man chosen to be Donald Trump’s defence secretary has come under further pressure over his private life after the emergence of an email from his mother calling him an “abuser” of women.
In the email to Pete Hegseth from his mother Penelope, she accused him of “lying, cheating, sleeping around and using women for his own power and ego”.
The email, sent at the time of Mr Hegseth’s divorce from his second wife in 2018, also describes the father of seven as “despicable and abusive” in his treatment of women.
“On behalf of all the women (and I know it’s many) you have abused in some way, I say...get some help and take an honest look at yourself”, Mrs Hegseth wrote.
“It’s time for someone (I wish it was a strong man) to stand up to your abusive behaviour and call it out, especially against women.
“We still love you, but we are broken by your behaviour and lack of character.”
Republicans criticised the New York Times for publishing the private correspondence, with both Mrs Hegseth and the Trump campaign calling the decision to do so “disgusting”.
Mrs Hegseth told the newspaper that she had written the email at a turbulent time in the family’s private life and insisted her son was “a good father and husband”.
Mr Hegseth, 44, is one of Mr Trump’s more controversial cabinet picks because of allegations of sexual assault, and because of his lack of experience at the top level of the US defence establishment.
An officer with the Minnesota National Guard, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, he is best known as a former news presenter on Fox News, the conservative broadcaster.
In a country where Christian morality still plays a central role in public life, he is due to be grilled on his alleged infidelity at a Senate confirmation hearing at the US Senate next year.
Moral codes in the US army are so strict that active-duty service members can be put on trial on adultery charges in front of a military court, a fact that has led critics to claim that Mr Hegseth does not have the requisite character to run the defence department.
His second marriage broke down after he got a co-worker pregnant. She later became his third wife and they remain together today.
A woman also filed a rape claim against him in 2017, although no charges were ever brought. Mr Hegseth has said the encounter was consensual.
Aside from concerns about his private life, Democrats in the Senate have expressed concerns about whether a TV anchor would have the experience to manage one of the largest bureaucracies in the federal government.