Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) put The New Yorker on blast Tuesday over a piece the outlet published attacking the Trump transition team and Defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth.
“The Trump transition team has waged an intense, and in many ways unprecedented, behind-the-scenes campaign ahead of the hearing to intimidate and silence potential witnesses, aimed at keeping Republican senators in line and in the dark,” reads the opening paragraph of the piece on “The Pressure Campaign to Get Pete Hegseth Confirmed as Defense Secretary.”
Collins took issue with one section on how GOP senators allegedly declined to meet with Hegseth’s accusers.
Susan Collins, a moderate Republican from Maine, also declined an offer to meet with the alleged victim. Collins’s press secretary, Blake Kernen, confirmed the outreach but said that the senator believes that such allegations should be brought to the relevant committee—in this case, the Armed Services Committee—of which she is not a member. Collins has, however, met with Hegseth. (The New Yorker)
The senator took to X to correct the record.
"Contrary to the assertion in the New Yorker article, I never turned down a meeting with Mr. Hegseth’s accuser," she said. "I was never contacted by her or her attorney."
Contrary to the assertion in the New Yorker article, I never turned down a meeting with Mr. Hegseth’s accuser.
— Sen. Susan Collins (@SenatorCollins) January 14, 2025
I was never contacted by her or her attorney. https://t.co/9dgMoj1Ylj
She went on to explain further:
Here is the quote we gave the New Yorker, including the information they left out: pic.twitter.com/dscoE1WjHs
— Sen. Susan Collins (@SenatorCollins) January 14, 2025
The New Yorker did not update or correct the story after Collins brought the receipts.