The police report of a 2017 sexual assault allegation against former Fox News personality Pete Hegseth released on Wednesday night.
Obtained by Mediaite, the report details graphic allegations against President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for defense secretary. According to the report, the accuser, a woman identified as Jane Doe, told police that she was sexually assaulted by Hegseth after he spoke at a October 2017 conference hosted by the California Federation of Republican Women at the Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel and Spa.
Two different women told police that Hegseth put his hand on their legs and asked them to come back to his hotel room. One of the women said she called Doe over to act as a buffer between her and the Fox News host.
After midnight, Hegseth and Doe had an argument outside by the hotel pool, which Doe said was over his treatment of women. A hotel worker told police that he received complaints about a couple by the pool around 1:30 a.m. and that he found Doe and Hegseth, who “began to curse” when he approached them. Video footage taken at the hotel showed the pair leaving the bar with their arms locked together, per the report.
The woman said that she had been drinking and that her next memory was of a hotel room. She alleged Hegseth took her phone, blocked the door to prevent her from leaving, sexually assaulted her despite her saying “no repeatedly,” and ejaculated on her stomach.
Per the report, Doe, who was 30 at the time of the alleged assault, later went to a local hospital and was submitted for a rape-kit exam. A hospital nurse called the Monterey Police Department and reported the alleged assault. Police spoke with Doe as part of their investigation into the incient.
Per the report, Hegseth told the police that he asked for the woman’s consent for sex. He claimed that Doe led him from the bar to his hotel room and that she would not leave. Hegseth alleged that they had consensual sex.
Trump’s communications director Steven Cheung previously told Vanity Fair that Hegseth “has vigorously denied any and all accusations, and no charges were filed.”
Earlier this week, CNN reported that according to Hegseth’s attorney, Hegseth paid a woman who accused him of sexual assault in a settlement agreement that included a confidentiality clause. His lawyer said Hegseth denied the assault and called the 2017 incident a “consensual sexual encounter.”
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