With Pete Hegseth’s confirmation as Secretary of Defense becoming all but certain leading up to President Donald Trump’s inauguration, the attempt to Brett Kavanaugh him is now underway. On Tuesday night, NBC News released a hit piece accusing Hegseth of abusing his second wife, causing her to “fear for her life.” Other press outlets immediately followed suit with similar reports, citing an affidavit submitted by his former sister-in-law.

Here’s a sampling of the headlines before we get to the big reveal, and trust me, it’s going to leave your blood boiling. 

NEW — 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. by @news_jul @S_Fitzpatrick @ckubeNBC

— Amanda Terkel (@aterkel) January 21, 2025

NEW: Pete Hegseth’s former sister-in-law said that his ex-wife feared for her safety. The defense secretary nominee denies the claims. https://t.co/rX3HGSh7WF

— Axios (@axios) January 21, 2025

Breaking News: Pete Hegseth’s former sister-in-law made a sworn statement to senators that the secretary of defense nominee was abusive toward his second wife. https://t.co/BF46cbid1C

— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 21, 2025

On the surface, this seems serious. After all, there’s an on-record source making the claim, which is a step up from most press allegations these days. Surely, this is going to sink Hegseth’s nomination, right? 

There’s just one problem: Hegseth’s second wife, the one supposedly abused, is unequivocally denying the allegations and threatening to get her lawyer involved. 

How do you run that story with a straight face? pic.twitter.com/58DkgSTWlF

— JD Vance (@JDVance) January 21, 2025

But while NBC News did bother to mention the above exonerating information despite conveniently leaving it out of their headline and social media posts on the story, Politico just omitted that detail altogether. 

Weird how Politico doesn’t mention in their newsletter the key fact that Hegseth’s ex wife is on the record in the story DENYING these BS smears. Why would you leave that fact out of your newsletter unless you’re trying to be purposely dishonest? Journalistically indefensible. pic.twitter.com/1pZ7ze1k7u

— Andrew Surabian (@Surabees) January 21, 2025

I’m no journalism expert, but I’d think that when the subject of the alleged abuse tells you that your story is utter nonsense and threatens to get her lawyer involved, that’s a pretty good reason to not run the story. And rest assured, if this situation centered on a Democrat, none of this ever would have been published by any of these outlets. But like with the infamous Steele dossier, the press is hiding behind the existence of this affidavit as a hook to report false, salacious information to harm a Republican. 

I’d suggest that’s no excuse, though. This affidavit was leaked, and if Hegseth’s ex-wife is saying it’s false information, then there’s zero reason it should be pushed into the public sphere by the press. Keep in mind, this isn’t even coming from the sister of the ex-wife in question. It’s coming from his brother’s ex-wife. What’s her connection to any of this? What’s her political leanings? Why is she claiming this stuff just days before Hegseth’s confirmation and not years ago? 

This is the Kavanaugh playbook all over again, and it’s not going to work. The press got caught with its pants down with this story, and embarrassingly, they still marched straight ahead into the brick wall for cheap clicks. Far be it from me to protect them. If they want to continue to set their credibility on fire and show the American people why they made the right choice re-electing Donald Trump, have at it.