Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Friday that someone contacted Child Protective Services to make a false report against him, leading to a harrowing night apart from his 4-year-old twins.
Buttigieg wrote in a post on Substack that a police officer and a CPS worker arrived at his door earlier this week and informed him someone had made an allegation against him, which he later learned was based on an anonymous caller who said he had “committed unspeakable violent crimes” and that she believed his “children were still at risk,” Buttigieg wrote.
He said was not allowed to be alone with his children until they had been interviewed, which was set for the following day. They stayed with their grandparents.
“The twenty-four hours until they returned are among the darkest hours of my life,” Buttigieg wrote. “This is the ugliest thing that has happened to me since my career in service began.”
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Buttigieg said “the officer made clear that he believed this was politically motivated, and said it would not be referred to a prosecutor.” He and his husband, Chasten Buttigieg, were reunited with their children the next day, after they were interviewed by professionals.
The Michigan State Police said in a statement that it responded to an anonymous report it determined to be false.
“False reports are dangerous and divert law enforcement officers and Child Protective Services workers from responding to legitimate emergencies and protecting vulnerable children and families,” MSP said.
The potential 2028 presidential contender said that he does not know the identity of the person who called but noted that the call took place soon after he shared photos of his family on social media for Father’s Day.
Buttigieg, a Democrat who ran for president in 2020 and then served in former President Joe Biden’s Cabinet, said the incident is “different” from the “cruelty, lies, and even deadly violence [that] have been directed at political figures across the ideological spectrum.”
“We cannot let American politics keep going in this direction,” he wrote. “And we must not all go on as if it’s acceptable for this kind of thing to be part of the cost of entering public service.”
Buttigieg said he will press civil or criminal charges against the caller, if possible.
A spokesperson for Buttigieg declined to comment further on the incident on Friday.
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