SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (AP) — A thorough investigative report released late Wednesday revealed that a woman told police that she was sexually assaulted by Pete Hegseth in 2017 after he stole her phone, shut the door to a hotel room in California, and wouldn’t let her leave.
According to the story, Hegseth, a Fox News personality and the defense secretary nominee of President-elect Donald Trump, told police at the time that the interaction had been consensual and denied any misconduct.
When local authorities issued a brief statement last week confirming that a lady had accused Hegseth of sexual assault in October 2017 after he had spoken at a Republican women’s gathering in Monterey, the claims gained attention.
A request for comment made early Thursday was not immediately answered by Hegseth’s attorney. He claims that in order to avoid the possibility of an unfounded lawsuit, Hegseth compensated the woman in 2023.
In response to a public records request, the 22-page police report was made public. It provides the first comprehensive description of the woman’s alleged events, which differs from Hegseth’s version of events. Police interviews with the accused victim, a nurse who cared for her, a hotel employee, another woman at the event, and Hegseth were cited in the report.
The Associated Press usually doesn’t name people who report being sexually assaulted, and the woman’s name was not made public.
“The report confirms what Mr. Hegseth’s lawyers have always stated: the incident was thoroughly investigated and no charges were filed because police found the allegations to be false,” a Trump transition official said early Thursday.
Police did not find the allegations to be untrue, according to the report. The Monterey County District Attorney’s Office should study the case report, according to the police recommendation.
According to the complaint, a nurse called investigators after a patient asked for a sexual assault examination, alerting them to the alleged attack. The woman informed the hospital staff that she thought she had been abused five days prior, but she was unable to recall much of the incident. She claimed that before arriving at the hotel room where the assault took place, something might have been slipped into her drink.
According to the report, police gathered her filthy clothing and underwear from that evening.
After she failed to return to their room that evening, the woman’s partner, who was also staying at the hotel with her, told authorities that he was concerned about her. He went to the hotel bar around two in the morning, but she wasn’t there. She apologized that she must have fallen asleep when she returned a few hours later. She told him she had been sexually abused a few days later.
According to the woman, who assisted in planning the California Federation of Republican women’s event where Hegseth spoke, she saw the TV host acting inappropriately throughout the night and massaging the thighs of several ladies. According to the article, she told a friend via text that Hegseth was acting creepy.
According to the story, the woman and other guests went to a hotel suite after the event, where she allegedly confronted Hegseth and expressed her disapproval of his treatment of women.
Hegseth and the woman were among a group of people who decamped for the hotel’s bar. The woman told the cops that’s when everything became hazy.
According to the police report, she recalled having a drink at the bar with Hegseth and other people. According to the report, a hotel employee who was dispatched to deal with the disturbance and spoke to police corroborated her claim that she and Hegseth got into a fight near the hotel pool.
She soon informed authorities that she was in a hotel room with Hegseth, who confiscated her phone and used his body to block the door, preventing her from leaving. According to the article, she also admitted to investigators that she had a lot of memories of saying no.
According to the report, her next memory is of Hegseth looming over her bare chest while she lay on a couch or bed with his dog tags hanging over her. Hegseth became a major while serving in the National Guard.
According to the article, she remembered Hegseth asking her if she was okay once he was done. She admitted to authorities that she had nightmares and memory loss ever since, and she could not remember how she returned to her own hotel room.
Hegseth, now 44, was divorcing his second wife, with whom he had three children, at the time of the alleged assault in 2017. Based on court documents and Hegseth’s social media posts, she filed for divorce after he had a kid with a Fox News producer who is now his wife. According to court documents, his first marriage terminated in 2009, again as a result of Hegseth’s adultery.
Hegseth admitted to being buzzed but not intoxicated, and he claimed to have gone to an after-party where he drank beer but not liquor.
He claimed that after meeting the woman at the hotel bar, she shocked him by taking him by the arm back to his room, even though he had no intention of having intercourse with her at first, according to the article.
Hegseth admitted to investigators that the subsequent sexual session was consensual and that he repeatedly inquired about her comfort level. According to Hegseth, the woman displayed early remorse in the morning, and he promised her that he would keep the encounter a secret.
A few years following the police investigation, Hegseth’s lawyer claimed that a payment was made to the woman as part of a confidential settlement because Hegseth was worried that she was ready to file a lawsuit, which he feared might have led to his termination from Fox News, where he was a well-liked host. The lawyer refused to disclose the payment amount.
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Linderman reported from Baltimore, while Slodysko reported from Washington.
The Associated Press, 2024. All rights reserved. All rights reserved. It is prohibited to publish, broadcast, rewrite, or redistribute this content without authorization.
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