**Family Turmoil Casts Shadow on Pete Hegseth's Nomination as Secretary of Defense**

The family drama of Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump's choice for secretary of defense, has come into the public eye following a leaked email from his mother, Penelope Hegseth, criticizing her son's treatment of women. The 2018 email, obtained by the New York Times, reveals harsh criticisms from Penelope about her son's behavior towards women, calling him an "abuser of women" and expressing her deep disappointment in his character.

In her email, Penelope Hegseth accused her son of a pattern of disrespectful behavior towards women, including belittling, lying, cheating, and using women for his own gain. She urged her son to seek help and self-reflect, stating, "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." Her words were especially poignant given Pete Hegseth's ongoing contentious divorce from his second wife, Samantha, with whom he shares three children.

Penelope Hegseth has since recanted her earlier statements. Speaking to the New York Times, she explained that the email was penned during a moment of anger and emotion and that she had immediately apologized to her son in a follow-up message. She emphasized that her original assertion was not accurate, maintaining, “I know my son. He is a good father, husband.” She condemned the publication of the initial email as "disgusting."

This controversy unfurls as Pete Hegseth prepares for his Senate confirmation hearings following Donald Trump's inauguration on January 20. The former Fox & Friends host is already under scrutiny for payments made to a woman who accused him of sexual assault, an incident that Hegseth claims was consensual. His attorney, Timothy Parlatore, disclosed that Hegseth had been "visibly intoxicated" during the 2017 incident in a Monterey, California, hotel and that the police concluded the accuser had been the aggressor.

Parlatore explained that his client opted to settle the matter privately, fearing that the exposure could lead to his termination from Fox News. Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung also criticized the publication, calling it "despicable" and an attempt to distort the context of Penelope Hegseth's email exchange with her son.

As Hegseth's Senate confirmation approaches, this family conflict and past allegations are set to further complicate an already contentious nomination process.