Pete Hegseth's Relationship With Wife Jennifer Rauchet Began As A Workplace Affair

Not only is U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth messy at his job — remember that "Signalgate" scandal? — he's also messy with his love life. Hegseth has been married three times, and his messy marriage with his latest wife, Jennifer Rauchet, started as a workplace affair. Both Hegseth and Rauchet worked at Fox News while he was married to Samantha Deering and she was also married. They each had three children at the time.

In August 2017, the cheating duo welcomed a child together, which then prompted Deering to file for divorce. Now, Hegeseth is married to his former mistress and is the father of four and stepfather to three children. Rauchet posts lots of photos to Instagram of the happy bunch, and while they're sweet pics, it's still hard to forget this blended family began because of an affair.

And this isn't the first time Hegseth has cheated on his spouse. He reportedly was unfaithful to his first wife, Meredith Schwarz, as well, according to sources at Vanity Fair. He supposedly told his then-brother-in-law, "I'm a f***ed up individual," and said he wasn't a believer in "God or family values" anymore. Obviously, he's changed his tune since then, because he posts about both his family and God on Instagram. He even has "Christian" written in his Instagram bio.

When the Signal scandal of the century happened in March 2025, Pete Hegseth was at the center of it. According to an article by Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, Goldberg was mistakenly added to a group chat on Signal used to discuss highly confidential war plans in Yemen. However, the U.S. Secretary of Defense also dragged his wife into the political debacle when he reportedly included her in a second group chat that also featured his brother.

Per The New York Times, despite not being a member of the U.S. Secretary of Defense's team, Jennifer Rauchet supposedly received highly privileged, confidential information from her husband. In the past, she's also gone with Hegseth on business trips, joining in on private meetings with foreign leaders.

Attending high-profile conferences without having proper clearance is the political equivalent of your friend working tech at a show and getting you a backstage pass. You're not supposed to be there, but you know a guy, so it's fine — which is okay for entertainment shows, but not for highly sensitive political matters that could jeopardize national security.