Pete Buttigieg says he was separated from his children after false report to CPS

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June 26, 2026 / 5:43 PM EDT

/ CBS News

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Former presidential candidate and Biden-era Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Friday his family was targeted by a false report to Child Protective Services that led to 24 hours of confusion and separation from his four-year-old twins overnight. Michigan State Police said in a statement that the police and Child Protective Services "determined the report was false," and condemned false reports to law enforcement. Buttigieg lamented the psychological stress to him, his husband, Chasten, and their twins. Swatting attempts — false calls intended to sic law enforcement on a target's home — have become increasingly common for political and public figures. Several days ago, Buttigieg said Friday in a post on Substack, a team from Child Protective Services showed up to his house and said an allegation had been leveled against him concerning the twins, whom the couple adopted in 2021. "I was bewildered and troubled, but tried to stay calm," Buttigieg wrote. "I'm used to any number of falsehoods, attacks, and serious problems being thrown my way. What I didn't understand was what could have led to this kind of visit. Then, the CPS worker told me something that made my stomach turn: I was not to be alone around the children, at least until the interview took place the next day. They asked if I had relatives nearby or could perhaps stay at a hotel for the night."Buttigieg said he and his husband, Chasten, were left in the dark about the allegations as they agreed to send the children to their grandparents' home overnight. "The 24 hours until they returned are among the darkest hours of my life. I tried to get my head around the idea that I had been accused of something so serious that I couldn't be alone around my own children, and had consented to have them interviewed by strangers, without my knowing where the accusation had come from or even what it contained," he wrote. After local authorities probed the situation and spoke to the twins, an officer explained what the allegation was during Buttigieg's formal interview.