在有争议的听证会上，共和党人支持赫格塞斯竞选国防部长

【中美创新时报2024年1月14日编译讯】（记者温友平编译）民主党人一再称皮特·赫格塞斯不适合担任国防部长，但参议院军事委员会的共和党人在确认听证会上对他的候选资格表示了全力支持。《纽约时报》国家安全记者海伦·库珀对此作了下述最新消息报道。。

当选总统唐纳德·J·特朗普挑选的国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯在周二紧张的确认听证会上脱颖而出，共和党人对他是否适合领导五角大楼进行了数周的审查，最终支持他。参议院全体投票可能最早在下周进行。

在长达四个多小时的听证会上，民主党人对赫格塞斯先生提出了多项不当行为指控、他对战斗中女性的看法以及他领导一个拥有 300 万名员工和 8490 亿美元预算的庞大部门的能力提出了质疑。赫格塞斯声称自己是“抹黑运动”的受害者，该运动的重点是性侵犯指控和酗酒事件。

但委员会的一位关键共和党成员、爱荷华州参议员乔尼·恩斯特 (Joni Ernst) 似乎对赫格塞斯对她关于女性在军队中的作用和性侵犯预防问题的回答感到满意。恩斯特女士被视为对赫格塞斯的确认机会至关重要，她花了很多时间专注于他们一致同意对五角大楼进行审计。

听证会几乎立即变成了党派之争，共和党人为赫格塞斯辩护，声称拜登政府的政策削弱了军队，而民主党人则瞄准了他的个人观点和行为。

民主党人反复质询他的性侵犯指控，这并没有导致刑事指控，但最终与该名女性达成了财务和解。亚利桑那州民主党参议员马克·凯利 (Mark Kelly) 是一名海军战斗机飞行员，他询问了证词中反复出现的矛盾：他称自己是救赎的故事，同时又称不当行为的指控是一系列“匿名诽谤”。

民主党人还指责赫格塞斯支持被定罪的战犯，他表示该国的交战规则“限制性很强”。他们还质疑他对两个退伍军人组织的管理，并敦促他公开发表贬低女性在军队服役的言论。

共和党人经常为赫格塞斯辩护，并称赞他的表现。俄克拉荷马州共和党参议员马克韦恩·穆林 (Markwayne Mullin) 指责民主党人虚伪，质问他们是否曾要求那些醉酒投票或欺骗配偶的参议员辞职。

赫格塞斯坚决否认不当行为，并拒绝回答有关酗酒或性侵犯是否会被取消资格的问题。

以下是其他需要了解的内容：

女参议员的问题：小组中的民主党女性——包括新罕布什尔州的珍妮·沙欣、夏威夷州的马齐·希罗诺、马萨诸塞州的伊丽莎白·沃伦和伊利诺伊州的塔米·达克沃思——是赫格塞斯先生最强硬的质询者。她们指责他贬低军队中的女性成员，没有达到国防部长最基本的标准，并拒绝回答她们的问题。沃伦女士指出，他十多年来都曾说过女性不应该参加战斗。赫格塞斯先生坚称，他的言论是关于在军队中保持“标准”。

一再回避：赫格塞斯先生拒绝透露什么样的行为会使被提名的国防部长失去资格。虽然他否认对他的不当行为指控，但他没有说性侵犯、酗酒或婚姻不忠是否会使某人失去资格。 “你不能告诉我，犯有性侵犯行为的人是否不适合担任国防部长？”弗吉尼亚州民主党参议员蒂姆·凯恩问道。赫格塞斯先生回答说：“参议员，我知道就我的情况而言——我只是在谈论我的情况——这是一个虚假的指控。”

俚语争论：与罗德岛州民主党参议员杰克·里德的一次交流提供了一个奇怪的时刻。在质询集中在赫格塞斯先生对被指控犯有战争罪的军事人员的支持时，里德先生要求他定义“jagoff”这个词。赫格塞斯先生最初苦笑着拒绝了，然后说它的意思是 JAG 官员，或美国陆军军法署署长团的成员，他们优先考虑自己的职业而不是其他军人。这个词的根源在于一个明显的性定义，模糊了一个更耸人听闻的术语。

指控：《纽约时报》和其他新闻机构记录了赫格塞斯酗酒的习惯。对他最严重的指控是，加利福尼亚州蒙特雷的一名女性指控他在 2017 年强奸了她。赫格塞斯说，这次性交是双方自愿的，因此没有受到刑事指控。他的律师说，赫格塞斯当时喝醉了。

背景调查：参议院军事委员会的两名高级成员于周五晚些时候听取了联邦调查局对赫格塞斯的背景调查情况的汇报。其他人则表示，他们可能没有掌握关于他的所有信息。伊利诺伊州民主党参议员 Tammy Duckworth 表示，她希望查看联邦调查局的背景调查和赫格塞斯的财务披露，并希望了解“他可能面临的任何其他指控”。

附原英文报道：

In Contentious Hearing, Republicans Embrace Hegseth’s Bid to Lead Pentagon

Democrats repeatedly called Pete Hegseth unfit to be secretary of defense, but Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee expressed nothing but support for his candidacy at a confirmation hearing.

Helene CooperNational security reporter

Here’s the latest.

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald J. Trump’s pick for defense secretary, emerged from a tense confirmation hearing on Tuesday with the support of the Republican Party intact following weeks of scrutiny over his fitness and qualifications to lead the Pentagon. A vote of the full Senate could come as soon as next week.

In a hearing that stretched more than four hours, Democrats pressed Mr. Hegseth on numerous allegations of misconduct, his views about women in combat and his ability to lead a sprawling department with three million employees and an $849 billion budget. Mr. Hegseth claimed to have been the victim of a “smear campaign” that focused on an accusation of sexual assault and episodes of drinking to excess.

But a key Republican member of the committee, Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa, a veteran and a sexual assault survivor, appeared satisfied with his responses to her questions about the role of women in the military and sexual assault prevention. Ms. Ernst, who is seen as critical to Mr. Hegseth’s confirmation chances, spent much of her time focusing on their agreement that the Pentagon should be audited.

The hearing turned partisan almost immediately, with Republicans defending Mr. Hegseth and claiming that the military had been weakened by Biden administration policies, while Democrats took aim at his personal views and conduct.

Democrats repeatedly questioned him on the sexual assault allegation, which did not result in criminal charges but led to a financial settlement with the woman. Senator Mark Kelly, Democrat of Arizona, and a Navy combat pilot, asking about a recurrent conflict in his testimony: calling himself a redemption story while calling allegations of inappropriate conduct a series of “anonymous smears.”

Democrats also went after Mr. Hegseth over his support for convicted war criminals, to which he said the country’s rules of engagement were “restrictive.” They also called in question his management of two veterans organizations, and pushed him on his long history of public comments disparaging women’s service in the military.

Republicans regularly came to Mr. Hegseth’s defense and praised his performance. Senator Markwayne Mullin, Republican of Oklahoma, accused Democrats of being hypocritical, asking them whether they had ever demanded the resignations of senators who showed up intoxicated for votes or cheated on their spouses.

Mr. Hegseth vigorously denied improper conduct and refused to engage with questions about whether heavy drinking or sexual assault would be disqualifying.

Here’s what else to know:

Female senators’ questions: The panel’s Democratic women — including Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Tammy Duckworth of Illinois — were among Mr. Hegseth’s strongest interrogators. They accused him of denigrating female members of the military, failing to meet the most basic standards for a defense secretary and refusing to answer their questions. Ms. Warren pointed out statements stretching back more than a decade in which he said that women should not serve in combat. Mr. Hegseth asserted that his statements have been about maintaining “standards” within the service.

Repeated dodges: Mr. Hegseth refused to say what kind of conduct would be disqualifying in a nominee for defense secretary. While he denied misconduct accusations against him, he would not say whether sexual assault, excessive drinking or marital infidelity should disqualify someone. “You can’t tell me whether someone who has committed a sexual assault is disqualified from serving as secretary of defense?” Senator Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, asked. Mr. Hegseth replied, “Senator, I know in my instance — and I’m talking about my instance only — it was a false claim.”

Sparring over slang: An exchange with Senator Jack Reed, Democrat of Rhode Island, provided one of the stranger moments. In questioning that focused on Mr. Hegseth’s support for military personnel accused of war crimes, Mr. Reed asked him to define the word “jagoff.” Mr. Hegseth initially declined with a wry smile, then said it meant a JAG officer, or a member of the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps, who prioritized their own careers over other service members. The word is rooted in an unmistakably sexual definition, a blurring of a more lurid term.

Accusations: The New York Times and other news organizations have documented a pattern of excessive drinking by Mr. Hegseth. In the most serious allegation against him, a woman in Monterey, Calif., accused him of raping her in 2017. Mr. Hegseth said the encounter was consensual, and it resulted in no criminal charges. His lawyer said Mr. Hegseth was inebriated at the time.

Background check: The top two members of the Senate Armed Services Committee were briefed late Friday on the F.B.I.’s background check of Mr. Hegseth. Others suggested that they might not have all the information they need about him. Senator Tammy Duckworth, Democrat of Illinois, has said she wants to see the F.B.I. background check and Mr. Hegseth’s financial disclosures, and wants to know about “any other allegations he might be facing.”