Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is facing renewed scrutiny this week as a tense exchange with Sen. Mark Kelly starts circulating again — landing just as Hegseth moves to escalate an investigation targeting the same lawmaker who once put him on the spot under oath.
The video, now going viral on social media, shows Kelly methodically pressing Hegseth during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing with a series of true-or-false questions about alleged episodes of public intoxication back when Hegseth led Concerned Veterans for America.
The exchange devolved into repeated deflections that critics now say look even worse in hindsight.
At the time, Hegseth was President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, seeking control of a department with roughly 3 million military and civilian employees. Kelly, a retired Navy captain and former astronaut, said he was unconvinced Hegseth had the discipline, credibility or experience required for the role.
“And there were very specific cases cited by individuals about your conduct. I’m going to go through a few of them, and I just want you to tell me if these are true or false. Very simple,” Kelly said before listing incident after incident.
“On Memorial Day 2014, at a CVA event in Virginia, you needed to be carried out of the event for being intoxicated.”
“Senator, anonymous smears,” Hegseth replied — a phrase he would repeat to nearly every allegation, without directly denying them.
Kelly pressed on: “Just true or false. Very simple. Summer of 2014 in Cleveland, drunk in public with the CVA team.”
“Anonymous smears.”
Kelly continued, citing an event in North Carolina where Hegseth was allegedly drunk in front of three young female staff members after reversing a no-alcohol policy.
“Anonymous smears.”
The questioning culminated with allegations involving a strip club visit with staff while on official business in Louisiana, and whether the organization later reached a financial settlement with a female staffer connected to the incident.
“Absolutely not. Anonymous smears,” Hegseth said, later adding, “Senator, I was not involved in that. I don’t know the nature of how that played out.”
Near the end of his allotted time, Kelly delivered a blunt assessment. “It’s clear to me that you’re not being honest with us or the American people because you know the truth would disqualify you from getting the job,” he said.
Social media critics suggested Hegseth might have been aware of the legal risk if he refuted the accusations, with one person saying, “A denial would likely be lying to congress so….”
Other voices called out Hegseth’s reliance on a single phrase to deflect every allegation, which many compared to invoking legal privilege.
“‘Anonymous smears’ must be the new ‘I plead the fifth.’” Another observed, “Absolutley not! Anonymous smears”….you KNOW that one was fuckin true.”
“He just admitted that he was at a strip club with the young female and male soldiers,” added Brenda.
Critics across several platforms mocked Hegseth for apparently refusing to deal with his reality.
“He’s an alcoholic and can’t admit it,” another person riffed on Threads with another asking bluntly, “Is he drunk now….that’s a weird way to say false.”
“As a former alcoholic, I promise you that this man has a drinking problem,” another critic observed. “He tells himself the same lies all alcoholics do.”
Some observers cut straight to Hegseth’s fitness for office, “Unqualified! Disgusting! Resign Party Pete!”
The renewed attention to the clip comes amid an extraordinary escalation by Trump and Hegseth against Kelly and his colleagues.
Hegseth, now nearly a year into the job, has threatened disciplinary action over a separate controversy involving Kelly and five other Democratic lawmakers — all military or intelligence veterans — who appeared in a video last month, urging active service members to refuse unlawful orders.
Trump reacted with a series of incendiary Truth Social posts, accusing Kelly and the others of “seditious behavior, punishable by death.”
The move by Democrats left Trump fuming for days. The White House later denied Trump was calling for executions.
Hegseth soon amplified the president’s stance. “The video made by the ‘Seditious Six’ was despicable, reckless, and false,” he wrote. “Encouraging our warriors to ignore the orders of their Commanders undermines every aspect of ‘good order and discipline.’”
The Pentagon confirmed it had escalated its review of Kelly from a preliminary assessment to a formal command investigation, according to ABC News. Hegseth has said the video risked confusing troops and encouraging insubordination, and has floated the possibility of recalling Kelly, who retired in 2011, to active duty for court-martial or administrative punishment.
Kelly has dismissed the effort outright. “This is very performative for him,” he told reporters, later calling the investigation “a bunch of bull****.”
“This is just about sending a message to retired service members, active duty service members, government employees — do not speak out against this president, or there will be consequences,” Kelly said.
Weeks later, a 2016 video emerged of Hegseth saying the U.S. military “won’t follow unlawful orders,” prompting accusations of hypocrisy.
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