Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) said on Sunday the public doesn’t care that Donald Trump’s transition team is skipping FBI background checks for some of his controversial nominees.
“I don’t think the American public cares who does the background checks,” Hagerty said on ABC News’ ‘This Week’. “What the American public cares about is to see the mandate that they voted in delivered upon.”
Trump has moved quickly to nominate allies for top cabinet posts including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, for director of national intelligence and Fox News host Pete Hegseth for Defense Secretary.
Kennedy is a prominent anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist. Gabbard has been accused of promoting Kremlin talking points and has met with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. Hegseth is accused of sexual assault and paying off the victim.
Hagerty called Hegseth “a very talented individual” when asked about the serious allegations him.
“Don’t let these allegations distract us,” Hagerty said. “What we need is real, significant change. The Pentagon has been more focused on pronouns than they have lethality the past four years. We need to get back to business, and I think Pete is just the person to do it.”
“The transition team has been working for months to prepare for this. I’m certain that there was significant vetting that has taken place, it has for every candidate,” he added.
CNN has reported that Trump’s transition team is bypassing traditional FBI background checks for some of his cabinet picks, opting to use private companies to conduct vetting instead. This has resulted in Trump’s team being caught off guard when allegations against his nominees are reported in the media.
