Pete Hegseth’s mother says he’s ‘redeemed’ since her 2018 email calling him ‘an abuser of women’

Penelope Hegseth, the mother of embattled Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth, said her son has changed in the nearly seven years since she wrote an email calling him an abuser of women.

Ms. Hegseth said she does not know who leaked her 2018 email to The New York Times, which published it last week, but that she wrote it in haste with “deep emotions” and that two hours after she sent it she followed up with an apology email to her son retracting her criticisms.

“Pete is a new person. He’s redeemed, forgiven, changed. I think we all are after seven years,” Ms. Hegseth said in a Fox News interview Wednesday. “I believe he’s the man for the job.”

Mr. Hegseth’s nomination to lead the Pentagon is on shaky ground amid a series of accusations of impropriety, including allegations of sexual assault, excessive alcohol use, infidelity and financial mismanagement. He made more visits with senators on Monday and Tuesday, while President-elect Donald Trump reportedly is considering Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for the post if Mr. Hegseth’s nomination fails.

“I don’t believe any of that is true, any of it,” Ms. Hegseth said when asked about the allegations in the media.

She criticized the way the media has reported on her son, specifically The New York Times, which she accused of threatening to publish her 2018 email in full if she did not provide them with a comment. She did speak briefly to the outlet, which also published the email.

The email to her son read in part: “You are an abuser of women — that is the ugly truth and I have no respect for any man that belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around, and uses women for his own power and ego. You are that man (and have been for years) and as your mother, it pains me and embarrasses me to say that, but it is the sad, sad truth.”

Ms. Hegseth said that her son and his second wife were going through a very difficult divorce at the time, and that she wrote the email “out of love” but with haste in the middle of “a very emotional time.”

“My husband tells me I should think through things a little bit more, but Pete and I are both very passionate people,” she said.

As to the content of the email, Ms. Hegseth said her son “doesn’t misuse women.”

“He’s been through some difficult things,” she said. “I’m not going to list them by name, but I would just say that some of those, some of those attachments or descriptions, are just not true, especially anymore.”

Ms. Hegseth said she wants people to disregard the media allegations — “most of it is misinformation” — and judge her son for who he is today.

“I am here to tell the truth, to tell the truth to the American people and tell the truth to the senators on the Hill, especially our female senators,” she said. “I really hope that you will not listen to the media, and that you will listen to Pete.”

While most of the reports about Mr. Hegseth’s behavior focus on events that allegedly happened years ago, NBC News reported Tuesday that current and former Fox News employees observed him coming to work hungover or smelling like alcohol on numerous occasions.

That report follows an article in the New Yorker detailing allegations of excessive drinking during Mr. Hegseth’s time leading two veterans organizations, jobs that the outlet said he was ultimately pushed out of for his behavior and financial mismanagement.

Ms. Hegseth was not asked in detail about any of the reports, just the allegations more broadly, which she said are inaccurate.

Asked if she would testify before Congress if called as a witness in her son’s confirmation hearing, Ms. Hegseth said she did not have an answer.

“I hadn’t thought about that,” she said.