Former US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg disclosed on Friday that his family was the target of a fabricated report to Child Protective Services (CPS). An anonymous caller alleged that Buttigieg had confessed to violent crimes against his children. Michigan State Police investigated and found the report was false. Buttigieg called it a “politically motivated hoax.”
He revealed the incident in a lengthy Substack post, describing the 24 hours it took to clear his name as “among the darkest hours of my life.”
The Associated Press confirmed the Michigan State Police received an anonymous report and that they and CPS “responded and determined the report was false.”
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What happened to Pete Buttigieg? 5 things to know
1. The anonymous call to the CPS. An anonymous caller told CPS that a woman claimed to have met Buttigieg at a conference several years ago in Alabama. She allegedly said Buttigieg told her he had committed “unspeakable violent crimes” and that his children were still at risk.
Buttigieg said he had never been to the town where the alleged meeting took place. He described the call as a form of “swatting” in his Substack article.
2. The allegations involved his four-year-old twins. A CPS worker and a Michigan State Police officer arrived at Buttigieg’s home. They told him an allegation had been made concerning his four-year-old twins. They arranged a forensic interview of the children for the next day.
Buttigieg was also instructed that he could not be alone with them until it was complete.
Buttigieg asked the CPS worker to wait until his husband, Chasten, returned home with the children. The family agreed the twins would stay at their grandparents’ home after dinner that night.
Buttigieg said he could not describe the rage and sadness he felt at the idea that someone “brought our children into this.” He wrote, “They are four years old. Four. They do not know or care what a Democrat or a Republican is.”
Buttigieg’s children were questioned the next day. He wrote, “I tried to get my head around the idea that I had been accused of something so serious that I couldn’t be alone around my own children, and had consented to have them interviewed by strangers.”
3. CPS arrived on Father’s Day. The incident occurred soon after Buttigieg shared photos of his family online for Father’s Day, according to his Substack post.
Buttigieg is widely viewed as a potential Democratic presidential candidate in 2028. He has long been the target of anti-LGBTQ attacks. Conservative activists and some Republican officials have opposed efforts to portray same-sex parents as ordinary families in schools and public life.
Buttigieg and his husband Chasten, adopted their twins while he served in the Biden administration.
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4. The investigation lasted for 24-hours. “The twenty-four hours until they returned are among the darkest hours of my life,” Buttigieg wrote.
He continued, “After spending a sleepless night wondering what the hell was going on, and spending half a day anxiously picturing what our children were going through without their parents.”
The Substack post further read, “I waited until the appointment time for my ‘interview’ finally came. With the kids back at their grandparents’ house after their appointment in town, and Chasten having been asked to wait upstairs, the officer and CPS worker sat down at our kitchen table with me and my new lawyer.”
Buttigieg explained in the post that he was notified about the entire allegation and the call details after the interview with his children, and he came to a conclusion.
5. The “politically motivated hoax.” The CPS worker assigned to the case found nothing to substantiate the allegation. The police officer on the case made clear he believed the incident was politically motivated and said it would not be referred to a prosecutor. Michigan State Police confirmed this in a public statement.
Buttigieg wrote that “cruelty, lies, and even deadly violence have been directed at political figures across the ideological spectrum.”
He further praised the authorities for responding to the call and said, “The police officer, the CPS professional, and the forensic interviewers who spoke to my children were just following procedure and doing their jobs – admirable jobs that must be incredibly difficult every day.”
However, he condemned the act of the anonymous call falsely reporting him and said, “When a serious allegation is made, they respond. But in this case, their time and resources were wasted in a cruel, politically motivated hoax that harmed our family.”
