Tom Tillis convinced Hegseth SIL to testify against Hegseth, then voted Yes anyway

[nycfan]

Heard this week that Trump wants Mike Whatley to run against him. Good lord. I used to know him back in the day. Perfect pick for Trump. I'll leave it at that.

If Trump and Musk run a MAGA against (who has been trying to burnish some “moderate” cred ahead of the election), then Cooper may well win that seat.

 

[rodoheel]

If Trump and Musk run a MAGA against (who has been trying to burnish some “moderate” cred ahead of the election), then Cooper may well win that seat.

I think the climate is likely to be favorable to win that seat no matter what. Incumbent's party usually faces headwinds in the midterms. And Cooper is still pretty popular in NC, having won multiple statewide elections where he ran well ahead of the Dem presidential nominee.

 

[dukeman92]

I wish I had your faith in an election happening. At least a fair one.

This. I'm just not sure we're going to see another fair election.

 

[rodoheel]

Roy Cooper will be 69 years old in November 2026. He’ll turn 70 five months after swearing in. If he’s the only Democrat with a shot at winning, then I hope he runs. I’d rather not have 70 year-old in his first year in his first term.

There's no way there is any candidate who will be as good for Dems as Cooper. I would agree that running 70-year-olds isn't ideal, but in a world where the president is about to be 80 I find it hard to get too worked up about that as a negative.

 

[Patb78]

I will be very disappointed if Cooper doesn't run for that seat.

I agree. And I don’t think there’s much doubt that he will.

 

[GoHeelsweeeehoooo]

I think Wiley Nickel might run on the Democratic side but imo Roy Cooper would be the best candidate for sure

 

[nycfan]

The 24-Hour Blitz That Flipped One Senator’s Vote from No to Yes on Hegseth​

Sen. Thom Tillis told colleagues he was a ‘no’ the night before confirmation, setting off party pressure. His turnaround left witnesses who had come forward as collateral damage.​

“… unknown to Thune, Tillis had been conducting his own private investigation into Hegseth for weeks.

In December, a mutual acquaintance had connected the senator with Kat Dugan, a North Carolina constituent who had supported Tillis in his Senate campaigns and had been an employee at Concerned Veterans for America a decade ago, when the nonprofit was led by Hegseth. She also is an Army veteran and served as a defense contractor.

Tillis told Dugan he was doing his due diligence in his role as a U.S. senator, and wanted to understand if Hegseth was qualified to lead the Pentagon, Dugan recalled to The Wall Street Journal. She told Tillis she had witnessed excessive drinking and other concerning behavior by Hegseth and believed he was unfit and unqualified, in her professional and personal opinion. She said Tillis agreed that what she had shared with him was compelling and warranted further investigation. He asked if she could get other people to come forward.

…
the senator wrote. “I just wanted to thank you for your courage and I wanted to make sure you knew I have your back. I am still working to connect the dots. Sincerely, Thom T.” He said he was working to see if there was anything beyond allegations of drinking and adultery against Hegseth “that would be difficult to overcome during the confirmation process.”

“I felt that I could trust Sen. Tillis,” Dugan said. “I believed him to be doing the right thing because he knew how important this was.”

At some point, a screenshot of one of Dugan’s texts to other potential witnesses came to the attention of Hegseth supporters, and someone alerted the senator, who told Dugan. Reporters began contacting her.

… Danielle wrote a draft affidavit for the senators, which repeated what she had already told the FBI. But she was reluctant to sign it without assurances that it would make a difference.

…
The next day, Jan. 19, on a phone call with Tillis, Danielle discussed what she had told the FBI.

Tillis told Danielle that he was part of a group that included GOP Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. He brought up other names as possible no votes. He said if she signed the sworn statement it would carry weight and could potentially convince these Republican senators to vote no.

Tillis indicated that if he got to three “no” votes plus Sen. Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.), then with any luck Hegseth would just withdraw. Tillis knew that McConnell was opposed, although it wasn’t yet public. He said there were a lot of Republicans who didn’t want to vote for Hegseth, but if they could get this critical mass of four votes it could be a tipping point.

Tillis, who is up for re-election in 2026, was also worried that someone might come out and refute the allegations, so he wasn’t going to make any promises. …”

 

[nycfan]

Continued

“… Sen. John Barrasso (R., Wyo.) took on the task of facilitating conversations and the information flow to Tillis. Senate Armed Services Chairman Roger Wicker pitched in. Thune spoke to him multiple times, and coordinated closely with the White House.

At some point Thursday night, Tillis spoke to Trump. Tillis was invited to the White House and had a meeting in the West Wing.

… [on the afternoon of the vote] Dugan, Tillis’s constituent, sent a text to Tillis begging him to vote no on Hegseth. “As a veteran, as a defense contractor, as a sexual assault survivor and as your constituent, please sir! Praying you and other Rs come forward,” she wrote, adding a series of praying hands emojis.

Tillis never responded, she said.

… In California, Trump wrapped up a roundtable with victims of the Los Angeles-area wildfires. It was less than 10 minutes before the vote, and someone handed the president a phone with Tillis on the line. By then, the senator had made up his mind: He was a “yes” on Hegseth.

… “At the end of the day my process has been very, very straightforward: I speak to an eyewitness and I speak to someone who can corroborate,” Tillis told the Journal. “I spoke to Danielle, who was arguably an eyewitness. I did not speak directly to anyone who could corroborate it. I got an assurance from someone that they could. And that’s not enough for me.”

——
Except Dugan has separately corroborated similar behavior issues with Hegseth. But Tillis is up for reelection in ‘26 and has no spine, so Trump had the leverage.