Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg disclosed Friday that an anonymous caller's false report to Child Protective Services (CPS) resulted in a 24-hour separation from his 4-year-old twin children. In a Substack post titled “A Terrible Thing Happened to My Family,” the former Biden administration official described the incident as a politically motivated hoax.
Buttigieg wrote that a CPS worker and a police officer arrived at his home in Traverse City, Michigan, after an anonymous tip claimed he had confessed to “unspeakable violent crimes” during a conference in Alabama. The former secretary noted he had never been to that Alabama town, and the responding officer “made clear that he believed this was politically motivated.”
The episode, which Buttigieg labeled a “swatting” attack, forced him to hand over his children for forensic interviews that lasted a full day. “This is among the darkest hours of my life,” he wrote, adding that CPS ultimately found no evidence to substantiate the allegations.
Buttigieg, who is gay and married to Chasten Buttigieg, underscored the timing of the incident—shortly after Father’s Day and during Pride Month. “We’re used to nasty, hateful, and sometimes violent things being said about us and even about our family,” he said. “But this is the first time someone managed to invade our lives like this – and drag our children into it.”
The former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who served as Transportation Secretary under President Joe Biden, has faced political attacks for years. “Many times over the years, I have been denounced, yelled at, protested, threatened, and heckled,” he wrote. “I’ve been through political attacks in office, death threats in public life, and rocket attacks in war. But this is the ugliest thing that has happened to me since my career in service began.”
Buttigieg’s ordeal fits a broader pattern of escalating political violence and threats. An April report from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs found a “serious escalation” in the risk environment for political violence in 2025. Meanwhile, U.S. Capitol Police reported earlier this year that threats investigated by the agency jumped nearly 60 percent in 2025. The trend has also been visible in other arenas, such as a former Olympian claiming rights violations in a reflecting pool arrest, and YouTube star Ms. Rachel visiting an ICE facility and decrying family separation.
“Everyone knows politics is ugly these days,” Buttigieg wrote. “It’s always been ugly, but now it feels more and more like bloodsport.” He added, “Cruelty, lies, and even deadly violence have been directed at political figures across the ideological spectrum. Generally everyone agrees this has to stop, even as our country (and public figures) get all too used to it.”
The Hill has reached out to Michigan State Police for comment on the incident.
