The Iowa senator supports Pete Hegseth for Defense secretary, despite allegations of assault and drinking — but she doesn’t want to talk about it.

Iowa Senator Joni Ernst announced that she would vote for Pete Hegseth to become Defense Secretary, making his path to Senate confirmation much easier.

On Monday, the night before hearings to confirm Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s embattled nominee for Secretary of Defense, were set to begin, The New Yorker reported that Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) — a key vote on the Armed Services Committee — had declined an offer to meet privately with the woman whom Hegseth paid to settle a sexual assault claim.