A lady instructed police that she was sexually assaulted in 2017 by Pete Hegseth after he took her cellphone, blocked the door to a California lodge room and refused to let her depart, in accordance with an in depth investigative report made public late Wednesday.
Hegseth, a former Fox Information character and President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be defence secretary, instructed police on the time that the encounter had been consensual and denied any wrongdoing, the report stated.
Information of the allegations surfaced final week when native officers launched a short assertion confirming {that a} girl had accused Hegseth of sexual assault in October 2017 after he had spoken at a Republican ladies’s occasion in Monterey.
Hegseth’s lawyer, Timothy Palatore, stated in an announcement that the police report confirms “what I’ve stated all alongside that the incident was totally investigated and police discovered the allegations to be false, which is why no costs had been filed.” Hegseth paid the lady in 2023 as a part of a confidential settlement to move off the specter of what he described as a baseless lawsuit, Palatore has stated.
The 22-page police report was launched in response to a public data request and presents the primary detailed account of what the lady alleged to have transpired — one that’s at odds with Hegseth’s model of occasions. The report cited police interviews with the alleged sufferer, a nurse who handled her, a lodge staffer, one other girl on the occasion and Hegseth.
The girl’s title was not launched, and The Related Press doesn’t usually title individuals who say they’ve been sexually assaulted.
A spokeswoman for the Trump transition stated early Thursday that the “report corroborates what Mr. Hegseth’s attorneys have stated all alongside: the incident was totally investigated and no costs had been filed as a result of police discovered the allegations to be false.” The report doesn’t say that police discovered the allegations had been false. Police beneficial the case report be forwarded to the Monterey County District Legal professional’s Workplace for assessment.
Investigators had been first alerted to the alleged assault, the report stated, by a nurse who known as them after a affected person requested a sexual assault examination.
The affected person instructed medical personnel she believed she was assaulted 5 days earlier however couldn’t keep in mind a lot about what had occurred. She reported one thing might have been slipped into her drink earlier than ending up within the lodge room the place she stated the assault occurred.
Police collected the unwashed costume and underwear she had worn that night time, the report stated.
The girl’s companion, who was staying on the lodge together with her, instructed police that he was apprehensive about her that night time after she didn’t come again to their room. At 2 a.m., he went to the lodge bar, however she wasn’t there. She made it again a number of hours later, apologising that she “should have fallen asleep”.
A number of days later, she instructed him she had been sexually assaulted.
The girl, who helped organise the California Federation of Republican Girls gathering at which Hegseth spoke, instructed police that she had witnessed the TV anchor performing inappropriately all through the night time and noticed him stroking a number of ladies’s thighs. She texted a good friend that Hegseth was giving off a “creeper” vibe, in accordance with the report.
After the occasion, the lady and others attended an after-party in a lodge suite the place she stated she confronted Hegseth, telling him that she “didn’t respect how he handled ladies,” the report states.
A gaggle of individuals, together with Hegseth and the lady, decamped for the lodge’s bar. That’s when “issues bought fuzzy”, the lady instructed police.
She remembered having a drink on the bar with Hegseth and others, the police report states. She additionally instructed police that she argued with Hegseth close to the lodge pool, an account that’s supported by a lodge staffer who was despatched to deal with the disturbance and spoke to police, in accordance with the report.
Quickly, she instructed police, she was inside a lodge room with Hegseth, who took her cellphone and blocked the door together with his physique in order that she couldn’t depart, in accordance with the report. She additionally instructed police she remembered “saying no lots”, the report stated.
Her subsequent reminiscence was laying on a sofa or mattress with a bare-chested Hegseth hovering over her, his canine tags dangling, the report states. Hegseth served within the Nationwide Guard, rising to the rank of main.
After Hegseth completed, she recalled he threw a towel at her and requested if she was “OK”, the report states. She instructed police she didn’t recall how she bought again to her personal lodge room and had since suffered from nightmares and reminiscence loss.
On the time of the alleged assault, Hegseth, now 44, was going via a divorce together with his second spouse, with whom he has three kids. She filed for divorce after he had a toddler with a Fox Information producer who’s now his third spouse, in accordance with courtroom data and social media posts by Hegseth. His first marriage led to 2009, additionally after infidelity by Hegseth, in accordance with courtroom data.
Hegseth, who joined Fox Information as a contributor in 2014 earlier than changing into co-host of “Fox and Buddies Weekend”, left the community after Trump introduced his intention to appoint him.
Hegseth stated he attended an after get together and drank beer however didn’t devour liquor, and acknowledged being “buzzed” however not drunk.
He stated he met the lady on the lodge bar, and she or he led him by the arm again to his lodge room, which stunned him as a result of he initially had no intention of getting intercourse together with her, the report stated.
Hegseth instructed investigators that the sexual encounter that adopted was consensual, including that he explicitly requested greater than as soon as if she was comfy. Hegseth stated within the morning the lady “confirmed early indicators of remorse”, and he assured her that he wouldn’t inform anybody concerning the encounter.
Hegseth’s legal professional stated a cost was made to the lady as a part of a confidential settlement a number of years after the police investigation as a result of Hegseth was involved that she was ready to file a lawsuit that he feared may have resulted in him being fired from Fox Information, the place he was a preferred host. The legal professional wouldn’t reveal the quantity of the cost.
