Two of the nominees of President-elect of the United States of America (USA) Donald Trump for key positions in the government - Pete Hegsett for the head of the Pentagon and Matt Gaetz for the secretary of justice - are involved in sex scandals, and therefore it is not certain that their appointments will be confirmed in the Republican to the majority Senate, which according to procedure approves the members of the new cabinet, writes the Voice of America today.
Hegsett paid an undisclosed amount of money to the woman who accused him of sexual assault in 2017, in order to avoid the story - which he says is baseless - spreading to the public, Hegsett's lawyer Tim Parlatore confirmed to the media.
Goec, who was until recently a congressman from Florida, suddenly resigned from his seat in the House of Representatives last Sunday.
This happened just a few days before the report of the Committee on Ethical Issues was to be published on whether Gec was involved in the sex trafficking of a 17-year-old girl, and whether he used illegal drugs. Some congressmen told Gec that he showed them naked photos of women with whom he had sexual relations, writes the Voice of America.
Gec denies the accusations. The federal authorities' investigation of him did not end with the indictment.
Hegsett's lawyer spoke to the Washington Post about his client's sexual relationship with a woman after a public rally organized by the Republican Party in Monterey, California in 2017. According to him, there was mutual consent for the sexual relationship. Local police launched an investigation that did not result in charges.
Parlatore said Hegsett reached an out-of-court settlement with the woman a few years later because he believed her lawsuit would result in his firing from Fox News, where he was a popular weekend anchor.
"He was falsely accused and my view is that he is the victim of blackmail," Parlatore told the AP, describing the case as "successful extortion." The woman's name has not been released.
Parlatore's attorney responded after a woman, who identified herself as a friend of the plaintiff, sent Trump's transition team a document detailing the incident. The woman accused Hegset of raping her, as he had previously been drinking in the hotel bar.
Trump has so far stood by Hegsett, whose appointment as defense secretary surprised many.
Some Democrats and Republicans have also questioned Hegsett's managerial abilities, whether at the Defense Department or at private companies. The head of the Pentagon has to manage the largest army in the world, which consists of more than two million soldiers and another 800.000 civilians.
Some of the public also criticized the large tattoo Hegseth has on his chest. He claims that it is a Christian symbol, the "Jerusalem Cross", while critics claim that the tattoo symbolizes white nationalism.
Hegseth said in an interview that his superiors removed him from the National Guard unit that was protecting US President Joseph Biden, because they feared he was an extremist because of that tattoo.
When the allegations against Hegsett first surfaced, Trump campaign spokesman Stephen Cheng said Hegsett "strongly denied all allegations" and looked forward to beginning the process of confirming him as defense secretary.
As for Goec, he was just re-elected for his fifth term in Congress, but he quickly resigned and thus automatically halted the investigation into alleged sex trafficking.
Some congressmen, however, request that the report be made public anyway, because the lower house has the role of advising and giving consent to the appointment of new cabinet members.
House Republican Majority Leader Mike Johnson is reluctant to release a rough draft of the report, he told CNN. He believes that the report should not be published because Gec is no longer a member of the Congress, even though it has happened before that reports were published in the same situation.
Johnson claims that senators will do a strict vetting of Goec, but that they don't need to see the report.
Some senators have announced that they may issue a binding subpoena to view the report if it is not voluntarily provided to them.
Trump is not giving up on Goec's nomination, and he previously asked the Senate to change the rules so that the president can appoint members of the new cabinet even without the Senate sitting.
Now the rule is that senators must consider presidential appointments in session, and that process does not run when there is no session.
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