Pete Buttigieg Separated From His Children ‘For Their Protection’ by Child Protective Services

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was separated from his four-year-old twins after a report alleging he posed a danger to his children.

Buttigieg was forced to spend a night away from his four-year-old twins for their protection. Authorities arranged forensic interviews for his twins and instructed him not to be alone with them until the interviews were complete.

According to Buttigieg, a Michigan State Police officer and a child protective services worker came to his home in Traverse City after they received an anonymous report alleging he posed a danger to his children due to the nature of his friends, and confessions he allegedly made in a bar.

Buttigieg’s best friend, the former Maryland mayor Patrick Wojahn, was sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2023 for a sickening array of child sex charges including possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material.

Michigan State Police said in a statement to The Associated Press they received an “anonymous report” regarding Buttigieg’s conduct with his children, and that after removing the children for their protection, they and child protective services “determined the report was false.”

Buttigieg said investigators told him the anonymous caller claimed he had confessed years earlier to violent crimes during a chance meeting in Alabama. Buttigieg said he had never been to the town where the meeting allegedly occurred.

He said police told him the allegation would not be referred to prosecutors and that they believed it to be politically motivated, while Child Protective Services found nothing to substantiate the report.

“I cannot describe the mix of rage and sadness that I feel at the idea that someone brought our children into this,” writes Buttigieg. “They are four years old. Four. They do not know or care what a Democrat or a Republican is.”

Buttigieg, who is widely viewed as a potential Democratic presidential candidate in 2028, has long been the target of anti-LGBTQ attacks.

In recent years, conservative activists and some Republican officials have opposed efforts to portray same-sex parents as ordinary families in schools and public life. June — widely recognized as Pride Month — is Strong Families Month in Alabama, intended to coincide with Father’s Day. Gov. Kay Ivey’s proclamation says fathers are “the head of the household” and “homes led by a father and mother provide children with the structure and discipline necessary to succeed throughout life.”

Buttigieg wrote that the incident occurred soon after he shared photos of his family online for Father’s Day.

Buttigieg drew criticism from some Republicans for taking paternity leave after he and his husband, Chasten, adopted their twins while he was serving in the Biden administration. Buttigieg also wrote that he has faced death threats during his career.

“But this is the ugliest thing that has happened to me since my career in service began,” he wrote.