The growing list of sexual misconduct allegations against Trump’s picks

Trump announced that he is putting forward Pete Hegseth, a weekend co-host of “Fox & Friends” and Army National Guard veteran, to head the Department of Defense. A California Federation of Republican Women staff member alleged that Hegseth sexually assaulted her in 2017 following his speech at a conference.

Approximately five days following the supposed assault, an ER nurse reached out to police after treating a woman she believed might have been drugged and raped, as detailed in a 22-page set of police documents that encompass the nurse’s report, the woman’s account to officers, and Hegseth’s account of the incident. The police report states that the woman confronted Hegseth for acting “inappropriately” with other women at the hotel bar, leading to a dispute near the pool. She informed the police that her subsequent recollection was in an unfamiliar room with Hegseth, who seized her phone and obstructed the door with his body as she attempted to exit.

Hegseth provided an undisclosed sum to the woman as part of a nondisclosure agreement after she threatened to sue in 2020, based on legal documents acquired by The Washington Post. Hegseth asserts that the sexual encounter was consensual and rejects all allegations. No charges were brought.

Hegseth was unavailable for a response

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 

Trump announced his intent to nominate Kennedy to head the Department of Health and Human Services. Eliza Cooney, a woman Kennedy hired decades ago to babysit his children, accused Kennedy of sexually assaulting her in the late 1990s, according to an exclusive interview with Vanity Fair, published in July 2024.

Cooney, who was 23 at the time and a recent college graduate, told Vanity Fair that Kennedy rubbed her leg under the table during a family meeting, asked her to rub lotion on his back and once came up behind her in the kitchen, groping her rib cage and breasts until he was interrupted by another worker.

After Cooney’s allegations went public, Kennedy said during an interview on the “Breaking Points” podcast that the Vanity Fair article was “a lot of garbage” but admitted he was “not a church boy… I have so many skeletons in my closet.” The Washington Post also reported that Kennedy sent a text message to Cooney apologizing.

“I have no memory of this incident but I apologize sincerely for anything I ever did that made you feel uncomfortable or anything I did or said that offended you or hurt your feelings,” the text message said, according to the Post. “I never intended you any harm. If I hurt you, it was inadvertent. I feel badly for doing so.”

Linda McMahon

Trump picked Linda McMahon, the co-chair of his transition team, to head the Department of Education. She and her husband, Vince McMahon, founded the company now known as World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. (WWE) and are both named as defendants in a lawsuit including claims of sexual misconduct.

The lawsuit, filed in October, alleges that multiple WWE staffers sexually assaulted underage boys in the 1980s and 1990s. The lawsuit claims that the McMahons created a work culture that allowed such sexual misconduct. These claims — referred to as the “ring boys scandal” — are discussed in the Netflix docuseries “Mr. McMahon,” released earlier this year.

McMahon served as the head of the Small Business Administration in Trump’s first presidential term before resigning to lead America First Action, a Trump-supporting Super PAC, and now chairs the America First Policy Institute, a think tank that works to advance Trump’s public policy platform.

McMahon’s lawyer, Laura Brevetti, said the civil lawsuit is “based upon thirty-plus year-old allegations” and “is filled with scurrilous lies, exaggerations and misrepresentations.”

“The matter at the time was investigated by company attorneys and the FBI, which found no grounds to continue the investigation,” Brevetti said in a statement. “Ms. McMahon will vigorously defend against this baseless lawsuit and without doubt ultimately succeed.

Elon Musk

Trump is recruiting Musk, alongside 2024 Republican presidential contender Vivek Ramaswamy, to head a newly-formed “Department of Government Efficiency.” Musk seems set to offer more of an external consultancy role rather than heading a new government agency, which would have needed congressional approval and financial backing.

Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, is confronted with a lawsuit from eight ex-employees who claim he unjustly terminated them after they reported the company’s acceptance of workplace sexual harassment. Court documents reveal that each plaintiff “faced unwanted behavior and remarks of a sexual nature from Elon Musk.” According to the lawsuit, Musk reportedly infused the workplace with “offensive sexual images, memes, and remarks that belittled women and/or the LGBTQ+ community.”

In reaction to reports about a sexual harassment allegation against him, Musk tweeted in 2022 on X, which he owns: “At last, we can use Elongate as the name for the scandal.” “It’s sort of ideal.”

Matt Gaetz (Withdrawn)

Trump nominated Gaetz to become attorney general, the nation’s top law enforcement official, but Gaetz — who faced allegations of illicit drug use and sexual misconduct — withdrew about a week later.

“While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition,” Gaetz posted on social media.

In recent years, both the Justice Department and a congressional committee have investigated sex trafficking allegations against Gaetz after a friend of his and rising figure in Florida politics, Joel Greenberg, pleaded guilty in 2021 to sex trafficking of a minor.

The Department of Justice ended its investigation last year without bringing criminal charges. The House Ethics Committee also investigated similar allegations and subpoenaed testimony from the woman who accused Gaetz of having sex with her when she was 17. Three eyewitnesses have testified that Gaetz had sex with a minor at a July 2017 party, according to separate court filings made public earlier this year. Just days before the Ethics Committee was set to vote on the public release of its findings, Gaetz resigned from the House, citing his prospective nomination. It is not clear whether the House will still release the report.

Gaetz has denied all wrongdoing.