Cringe moment as Pete Hegseth’s wife reacts to ‘cheating’ and binge drinking claims

Pete Hegseth’s wife looked stoic as her husband was forced to respond to questions about alleged drunkenness at work and infidelity with his second wife.

Hegseth, a former Fox News personality who Donald Trump nominated to lead the Pentagon, was grilled during his Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday.

Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) has pressed Hegseth on reports tracing back to a whistleblower who said he repeatedly drunk while working for a nonprofit for veterans and reports his drinking involved his former colleagues on cable television.

“I have read several reports that you were regularly drunk at work, including from people who worked with you at Fox News. Did you know that being drunk at work is prohibited for military personnel under the [Uniformed Code of Military Justice]?’ the senator asked him.

Hegseth, pressing for a “yes or no,” said, “These are multiple, false, anonymous reports being circulated by NBC,” before the senator interrupted.

He said they were “directly contradicted” by people at Fox, and continued to answer as Hirono continued to pressure him.

His wife Jennifer, 39, looked like a statue sitting right behind him as she kept a straight face during the dramatic back and forth.

She is Hegseth’s third wife and they share seven children in their “blended family.”

Jennifer, 39, looked like a statue sitting right behind him as she kept a straight face during the dramatic back and forth

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth faced accusations of drunkenness on the job and cheating on his ex-wife during his confirmation hearing in the Senate.

Citing his opening statement, Hirono said he is committed to “holding leaders at all levels accountable – that of course includes you.

“You recently promised some of my Republican colleagues that you have stopped drinking and that you will not drink again if that is correct?”

“Absolutely,” replied Hegseth, who has admitted to excessive drinking and partying in the past but vowed Tuesday to represent DOD employees and troops in harm’s way.

“Would you resign as Secretary of Defense if you drink on the job, which is a 24/7 position,” she said. “I have made this commitment…” Hegseth tried to answer.

Hirono asked him again if he would resign.

“I don’t hear an answer to my question, so I’m moving on,” Hirono said.

Trump allies have blasted Hirono online, with Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) saying she “play judge, jury and executioner based on lies and stupidity.’

But the issue of alleged drinking helped undermine the nomination of Senator John Tower to the same post at the Department of Defense during the George HW Bush administration.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) brought up Hegseth’s personal life. He was married to his second wife, Samantha, when she discovered that Hegseth’s mistress had given birth to a daughter.

Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, raised allegations that Hegseth was drunk at work

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) told Hegseth he ‘cheated’ on his second wife when he had a child with another woman during their marriage

Weeks later, he faced allegations of sexual assault and decided to pay his accuser, despite denying the alleged behavior. Hegseth lawyer Timothy Parlatore said his client paid the woman for her silence because he did not want to lose his job, while dismissing the allegations as “unfounded” and amounting to a “successful extortion.”

Kaine asked Hegseth how he could “so casually cheat on a second wife and cheat on the mother of a child born two months earlier, and you tell us you’re completely exonerated.”

“So how is that perfectly clear,” he asked?

“Senator, her child’s name is Gwendolyn Hope Hegseth, and she is a child of God, and she is seven years old.”

“You cheated on that child’s mother less than two months after that daughter was born, didn’t you,” Kaine pressed.

‘Those were false accusations. It was fully investigated and I was fully exonerated,” Hegseth said, referring to the 2017 assault allegations.

No charges have been filed. Sources said The FBI did not interview the female accuser as part of Hegseth’s background check, ABC reported.

Hegseth said he was “not a perfect person,” and it was Hegseth, a former National Guard officer, who brought up the religious tattoo that he says prevented him from securing President Joe Biden’s inauguration.

Kaine’s blasts came weeks after he declined to name names while expressing general concerns about Trump nominees via DailyMail.com.

“I see people who make me doubt,” he said before the holidays. “I think I’m going to save that for next year,” he said.