CNN discovers tape that catches top Trump nominee spouting wild Jan. 6 claims

CNN on Tuesday uncovered new audio of Trump Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth spouting baseless conspiracy theories about the January 6th riot at the United States Capitol building.

The audio came from an interview that Hegseth gave with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in the wake of the deadly riot in which he alternately downplayed the severity of the attack and tried to blame it on Trump's left-wing enemies.

"And just from, you know, common sense, that Antifa folks took advantage of this to try to get to the front and try to agitate and create openings for themselves,” Hegseth said at one point. “They want chaos, ultimately. I could even spot it. You can see the helmets where there’s a Donald Trump bumper sticker on the back, quickly put on it so they could look like they wanted to stop the steal. But what they really wanted to do was further the narrative."

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In fact, there is no evidence that Antifa infiltrators were responsible for the riots, which led to the arrests and convictions of more than a thousand Trump supporters.

At other times, noted CNN, Hegseth tried to justify the rioters' actions.

“What did people think was going to happen?” Hegseth asked rhetorically at one point about the widespread condemnation of the riots. “I didn’t like the knee-jerk, pearl-clutching response across the spectrum.”

In addition to his conspiracy theories about January 6th, Hesgseth has also come under fire for alleged past instances of public drunkenness and sexual assault, although he has flatly denied those allegations.