Pete Hegseth drew a direct call for accountability from Hillary Clinton on Wednesday, when the former secretary of state named the Department of War chief during a podcast appearance with journalist Kara Swisher.
Clinton did not aim her remarks at the president.
She told Swisher she opposes impeaching Donald Trump, and she said she wants lawmakers to open impeachment investigations into members of his team instead.
Swisher, a left-leaning journalist, released the episode on Wednesday. The conversation also streams on YouTube.
Clinton packed her position into a single answer.
“You know, I am against impeaching Donald Trump because I think it’s a sideshow and he can’t get convicted. But I am in favor of opening impeachment investigations into some of the elected officials or the appointed officials,” she said.
That answer gave two reasons for sparing the president. Clinton described impeachment as a sideshow, and she said Trump cannot win a conviction.
Her next remarks named a specific official. Clinton pointed to Hegseth and spelled out her concerns.
“You know, people like Pete Hegseth—who I think is hollowing out our military, politicizing our military, you know, turning it into a militia for his Christian national ambitions—I think he needs to be held accountable,” she added.
In that comment, Clinton accused Hegseth of hollowing out the military, politicizing it, and turning it into a militia for “his Christian national ambitions.”
Hegseth hosted a weekend show on Fox News and served in the Army National Guard before joining the administration.
The Senate confirmed him in January 2025, with Vice President JD Vance casting the tiebreaking vote.
Clinton did not stop at one cabinet member. She said the country needs “smart, disciplined investigations” that reach across the administration.
She also told Swisher what those probes should examine. Investigators, she said, should look at “where the money is coming from, who is receiving it, and what are they getting in return.”
Clinton condensed the approach into three words for the administration as a whole: “follow the money.”
The comments mark a partial shift from her earlier statements on Trump. During his first term, House Democrats voted to impeach him twice, and Clinton wanted him impeached both times.
Before Trump left office on January 20, 2021, she backed efforts to remove him over allegations of “incitement of insurrection” tied to January 6. She laid out her case in an op-ed at the time.
“Removing Trump from office is essential, and I believe he should be impeached,” she wrote.
The Democratic-controlled House approved articles of impeachment against Trump in December 2019 and again in January 2021.
The first set of charges accused him of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The second charged him with incitement of insurrection.
The Senate did not convict him either time. It voted to acquit in February 2020 and again in February 2021.
The 2021 vote fell short of the two-thirds majority required for conviction, with 57 senators voting guilty and 43 voting not guilty.
Trump served out the remainder of his term and returned to the White House in January 2025.
Clinton has spent decades in Democratic politics.
She served as first lady during Bill Clinton’s presidency, represented New York in the U.S. Senate, and served as secretary of state under President Barack Obama.
She then became the Democratic nominee in 2016, when Trump defeated her.
Her Wednesday interview put three positions on the record.
She opposes impeaching Trump, she supports investigating Hegseth and other officials, and she wants those investigations to center on the administration’s money.
