Tillis Assured Hegseth’s Former Sister-in-Law Her Testimony Could Convince GOP Senators to Vote No

North Carolina senator provides pivotal 50th ‘yes’ vote to confirm Hegseth as defense secretary

A key witness in the contentious Senate confirmation of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was assured by Sen. Thom Tillis (R., N.C.) that her sworn statement would carry weight in last week’s vote and could convince Republican senators to oppose the nominee, according to people familiar with the events.

Tillis personally assured Danielle Hegseth in a call on Jan. 19, witnessed by two other people, that if she signed the statement testifying that she believed her former brother-in-law Pete Hegseth has an alcohol abuse problem and was abusive to his second wife, it would carry weight, and potentially move three votes—his own, along with the votes of Sens. Susan Collins (R., Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R., Alaska), those people said.

On Friday, Tillis became the 50th senator to vote “yes” on Hegseth, clinching his confirmation to lead the Pentagon.

[OCS: Tillis reversed his vote promise when his treachery was discovered. Had he voted “no,” even J.D. Vance’s tie-breaking vote wouldn’t have resulted in confirmation as Collins, Murkowski, and McConnell voted against confirmation.]

In a statement, Tillis didn’t dispute The Wall Street Journal’s reporting about the call. He said Danielle Hegseth’s statement “did carry weight, which is why I communicated my concerns to the White House and spent days doing my due diligence and seeing if there were any firsthand corroborating accounts of the sworn statement.” He continued that he was “not able to speak with anyone who provided firsthand corroboration.”

Tillis said he did extensive research including long conversations with Hegseth and his vote “makes it clear where the facts ultimately led,” and that he looks forward to working with the new Defense secretary.<Source: Wall Street Journal>