Samantha Hegseth Is Bound by a Nondisparagement Clause

The second wife of Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary nominee who has been accused of threatening and abusive conduct toward her, is bound by a nondisparagement clause as a condition of the couple’s 2018 divorce, according to a copy of the agreement.

Mr. Hegseth’s former sister-in-law, Danielle Diettrich Hegseth, submitted an affidavit to senators this week claiming that Mr. Hegseth’s second wife, Samantha Hegseth, was so fearful of his “erratic and aggressive” behavior that she once hid in a closet from him and had a code word to use with confidants if she needed help dealing with him.

Mr. Hegseth, through his lawyer, has denied the allegations. And Samantha Hegseth has said publicly that no physical abuse occurred, complicating senators’ efforts to verify Danielle Hegseth’s claims and prompting many Republicans to dismiss them altogether.

But the divorce agreement, reported earlier by MSNBC, suggests that Samantha Hegseth is contractually obligated not to speak ill of her former husband. In the divorce decree from July 2018, Pete and Samantha Hegseth agreed to “refrain from engaging themselves in any public discourse, including through either traditional media or social media, disparaging the other party and will take reasonable steps to encourage friends and family to refrain from doing so.”

Such clauses often appear in divorce cases involving children, as the Hegseths’ did.

In her account, Danielle Hegseth said that her descriptions of the incidents that occurred in the Hegseth home were based on what Samantha Hegseth told her. She also wrote that Mr. Hegseth was frequently intoxicated to the point of passing out, and at least once was drunk while in uniform.

Because Mr. Hegseth has denied the allegations — much like he denied a previous allegation of sexual assault, reports of financial mismanagement and public intoxication — Samantha Hegseth’s account could be critical for helping senators on the fence determine how they plan to vote on his nomination in a vote expected on Friday night.

To date, the only thing Samantha Hegseth has said publicly about the allegations is that he never physically abused her.

Many Republican senators have cited that statement to discredit the entire account. Senator Joni Ernst, Republican of Iowa, said that because Samantha Hegseth had denied the allegations, the affidavit “carries no weight.”