Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg reported that he was briefly separated from his four-year-old twins after an anonymous caller filed a false report with Child Protective Services (CPS). In a Substack post, Buttigieg described the incident, which involved Michigan State Police responding to his home after the report claimed he posed a danger to his children. The police and a CPS worker could not provide details until a forensic interview with the children was conducted the next day, during which Buttigieg was without his children.
Buttigieg expressed distress over the situation, stating, "The twenty-four hours until they returned are among the darkest hours of my life." He noted that the accusation stemmed from a caller who claimed he spoke with a woman alleging that he had committed violent crimes in Alabama, a location Buttigieg stated he has never visited. After the forensic interview, the officer determined the report was politically motivated and assured Buttigieg that no charges would be pursued, as the CPS worker found no evidence to support the allegation.
The children stayed with their grandparents while the situation was resolved. Buttigieg, who lives with his husband Chasten, mentioned that the false report was made shortly after Father's Day and during Pride Month, raising questions about the motivation behind the report. He condemned the incident as a politically motivated attack, describing it as one of the ugliest experiences of his career. Buttigieg concluded his post with a warning against targeting children in political disputes.