Sen. Susan Collins Outs The New Yorker Over Hegseth Hit Piece: ‘I Was Never Contacted By Her’

Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) called out The New Yorker directly in a post she shared via X, stating that the outlet had misrepresented her in a piece that was clearly aimed at sullying President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team and Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth.

Author Jane Mayer wrote in a sub-headline, “Supporters of Donald Trump’s nominee have intimidated potential witnesses and suppressed the FBI background check of the former Fox News host in the run-up to his Senate hearing.”

The opening paragraph painted an equally grim picture, stating, “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.”

What Sen. Collins objected to was the suggestion that she had “turned down a meeting with Mr. Hegseth’s accuser,” and she responded with an unequivocal, “I was never contacted by her or her attorney.”

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Collins followed her initial objection with receipts, clarifying what exactly had taken place: “I was approached by a third party about a meeting and I said that I would think about it. I never heard back from anyone after that. As a general matter, allegations like this are best brought to the committee responsible for the nomination.”

“Here is the quote we gave The New Yorker, including the information they left out,” she added. “The senator received an inquiry from a third party about a potential meeting. There was no follow up from them after the initial discussion. Senator Collins believes when a person has allegations about a nominee that they feel are relevant, those allegations should be brought to the committee that will be considering the nomination.”

Hegseth’s hearing took place on Tuesday — and while she has not said yet whether she plans to vote for his confirmation, Collins has thus far said that she wanted to wait until she heard what each of Trump’s nominees had to say before making her final decision.

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