A girl advised police 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 go away, in line with an in depth investigative report launched late Wednesday.
Hegseth, a Fox Information persona and President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be protection secretary, advised 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} lady had accused Hegseth of sexual assault in October 2017 after he had spoken at a Republican ladies’s occasion in Monterey.
CBS Information
Hegseth’s lawyer, Timothy Parlatore, did not instantly reply to a request for remark early Thursday.
The 22-page police report, which was obtained by Mediaite.com amongst different shops, was launched in response to a public information request and affords the primary detailed account of what the girl alleged 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 lady on the occasion and Hegseth.
The girl’s identify wasn’t launched, and CBS Information and The Related Press do not usually identify individuals who say they have 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.”
Police beneficial the case report be forwarded to the Monterey County District Legal professional’s Workplace for overview.
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 advised medical personnel she believed she was assaulted 5 days earlier however could not bear 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, advised police that he was fearful about her that night time after she did not come again to their room. At 2 a.m., he went to the lodge bar, however she wasn’t there. She made it again just a few hours later, apologizing that she “will need to have fallen asleep.” Just a few days later, she advised him she had been sexually assaulted.
The girl advised police she had witnessed the TV anchor appearing inappropriately all through the night time and noticed him stroking ladies’s legs. She texted a pal that Hegseth was giving off a “creeper” vibe, in line with the report.
After the occasion, the girl and others attended an afterparty in a lodge suite the place she stated she confronted Hegseth, telling him she “didn’t respect how he handled ladies,” the report states.
A bunch of individuals, together with Hegseth and the girl, left for the lodge’s bar. That is when “issues received fuzzy,” the girl advised police.
She remembered having a drink on the bar with Hegseth and others, the police report states. She additionally advised police she argued with Hegseth close to the lodge pool, an account supported by a lodge staffer who was despatched to deal with the disturbance and spoke to police, in line with the report.
Quickly, the accuser advised police, she was inside a lodge room with Hegseth and he took her cellphone and blocked the door together with his physique so she could not go away, in line with the report. She additionally advised police she remembered “saying ‘no’ so much,” the report stated.
Her subsequent reminiscence was laying on a sofa or mattress with Hegseth hovering over her bare-chested, his canine tags dangling over her, the report states. Hegseth served within the Nationwide Guard, rising to the rank of main.
After she stated Hegseth ejaculated on her abdomen, she recalled him asking if she was “OK,” the report states. She advised police she didn’t recall how she received again to her personal lodge room and had since suffered from nightmares and reminiscence loss.
On the time of the alleged assault in 2017, Hegseth, now 44, was going by means of a divorce together with his second spouse, with whom he has three youngsters. She filed for divorce after he had a baby with a Fox Information producer who’s now his spouse, in line with courtroom information and social media posts by Hegseth. His first marriage led to 2009, additionally after infidelity by Hegseth, in line with courtroom information.
Hegseth advised police that he attended an after get together and drank beer however did not eat “onerous alcohol” and acknowledged being “buzzed” however not drunk, in line with the police report.
He stated he met the girl 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 advised investigators the sexual encounter that adopted was consensual, including that he explicitly requested greater than as soon as if she was snug. Hegseth stated within the morning the girl “confirmed early indicators of remorse” and he assured her that he would not inform anybody in regards to the encounter.
Hegseth’s legal professional, Timothy Parlatore, has advised CBS Information Hegseth paid a confidential monetary settlement to a girl who accused him of sexual assault out of concern the allegation would result in his firing from Fox Information.
Parlatore stated Hegseth reached the settlement settlement to discourage his accuser from going ahead with a lawsuit, sustaining that he’s harmless and the sexual encounter was consensual. Hegseth denies any wrongdoing.
Parlatore declined to reveal the quantity of the settlement, saying solely that it was “far, far lower than what she needed.” He characterised it as “basically an extortion and blackmail.”
Fox Information Media stated in an announcement Monday it “was not made conscious of the incident or the settlement.”
Trump’s transition group spoke with Parlatore after Hegseth was named as Trump’s nominee protection secretary, the legal professional stated. He stated that he “defined this totally” to them however that he didn’t know what prior conversations Hegseth had with the transition group, or if they’d been knowledgeable in regards to the sexual assault allegation and settlement settlement earlier than the announcement of his impending nomination for protection secretary.
“This could don’t have anything to do with the affirmation course of,” he stated.
Trump has indicated that these revelations haven’t deterred him from Hegseth’s choice as protection secretary.
