Several of US President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees are facing heavy scrutiny, including claims of misconduct.
His Defence Secretary pick Pete Hegseth denies a sexual assault allegation and potential attorney general Matt Gaetz is at the centre of an ethics investigation.
Trump’s health secretary nominee, Robert F Kennedy Jr, is facing severe criticism for his vaccine scepticism.
Trump will need the US Senate to confirm these nominees when he takes office in January, and though the chamber will be controlled by his fellow Republicans, his Cabinet contenders will face an intense grilling during bipartisan hearings.
On Friday, police said that Hegseth, the Pentagon nominee, had been investigated for an alleged sexual assault in California in 2017.
Hegseth, a Fox News host and veteran of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, was never arrested and denies wrongdoing.
Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said: “Mr Hegseth has vigorously denied any and all accusations, and no charges were filed.”
Hegseth had once been flagged as a potential “insider threat” by fellow military personnel who thought he had a white-supremacist tattoo. Hegseth has denied any connection to extremist groups.
A former member of the Minnesota National Guard, he has a tattoo on his bicep reading “Deus Vult”, a latin phrase meaning “God wills it”, a rallying cry for Christian crusaders in the Middle Ages.
Retired Master Sgt DeRicko Gaither said, “I looked it up and that tattoo had ties to extremist groups.” He said he had flagged the body ink to leadership. – BBC
