Combat veteran and veterans advocate Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to head the Defense Department, has faced brutal anonymously-sourced media attacks since being picked, including accusations from unnamed former coworkers that he is an alcoholic with a binge drinking problem.

In a recent interview, Hegseth fervently denied those and other allegations but nonetheless vowed to not consume a single "drop of alcohol" for the duration of his service as Defense secretary if he is confirmed by the Senate, the Daily Mail reported.

Hegseth acknowledged that he enjoys having "some beers" with coworkers and fellow veterans in social settings but insisted his drinking was not a problem that should prevent him from serving as the head of the Pentagon.

Unnamed sources claim Hegseth has a drinking problem

Over the weekend, The New Yorker reported that some of Hegseth's purported former coworkers and a "whistleblower" at the veterans advocacy organizations he used to work with had supposedly raised concerns about his alleged problems with alcohol.

Those unnamed sources claimed that Hegseth would often get heavily intoxicated, to the point of needing assistance from others, and expressed worries that his alleged drunkenness would inhibit his abilities to be on-call 24 hours a day as the Defense secretary.

Just a few days later, NBC News published a similar report that cited anonymous Fox News employees as making similar allegations about Hegseth's supposed alcoholism while he worked for the news network.

Hegseth's attorney, Trump transition team dispute allegations

Notably, however, none of the sources have been identified while plenty of Hegseth's friends and former coworkers have gone on record to publicly vouch for him and deny the claims about a purported drinking problem.

Indeed, in response to the New Yorker article, Hegseth's attorney, Tim Parlatore, said in a statement, "We’re not going to comment on outlandish claims laundered through The New Yorker by a petty and jealous disgruntled former associate of Mr. Hegseth’s. Get back to us when you try your first attempt at actual journalism."

As for the NBC News report, Parlatore pointed to a statement issued by the Trump transition team, which said, "These disgusting allegations are completely unfounded and false, and anyone peddling these defamatory lies to score political cheap shots is sickening. As a decorated combat veteran, Pete has never done anything to jeopardize that, and he is treating his nomination as the most important deployment of his life."

"There won't be a drop of alcohol on my lips" while serving if confirmed

On Wednesday, SiriusXM host Megyn Kelly aired an hour-plus interview she conducted with Hegseth in which she summarized the many different anonymously sourced accusations against him, including the claims about his supposed drinking problem, and allowed him to respond to the allegations.

Hegseth admitted that, like many combat veterans, he previously sought solace in alcohol consumption, but insisted it had never been an issue as well as that he was a changed man thanks to his devout faith and marriage to his third wife.

However, to allay any possible remaining concerns, the Defense Secretary-designate vowed to not drink at all while serving if confirmed, and said, "This is the biggest deployment of my life, and there won't be a drop of alcohol on my lips while I'm doing it."

Nominee has been meeting with senators

Meanwhile, according to the Daily Mail, Hegseth has been making the rounds on Capitol Hill this week to meet with some of the senators who will eventually vote on whether to confirm him to the Cabinet-level position he was selected for.

While Hegseth has reportedly garnered the support of most of the Republican senators, there are still a few that have some concerns about the allegations against him and whether he is the right man for the job, given some of his stated plans and viewpoints that have stirred controversy among some.