A police report on Pete Hegseth’s alleged sexual assault of a woman in 2017 was released on Wednesday, providing details into allegations that could derail the former Fox News host’s Senate confirmation.
The Monterey Police Department released the 24-page report to news organization Mediaite after initially denying to do so, explaining that Hegseth’s request for a copy in 2021 waived its obligation to keep it under wraps.
The alleged assault took place during a Republican women's conference during which Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the Department of Defense, was a keynote speaker. In his statement to police, Hegseth said he did have sex with the accuser and corroborated details from her account, but characterized the encounter as consensual.
The woman who made the accusation, referred to as “Jane Doe” throughout the report, sought a rape test days after the encounter.
Hegseth’s alleged victim said she had a drink at a sports bar attached to the hotel before “things got fuzzy,” telling a nurse who administered her sexual assault test that she suspected something was slipped into her drink.
She said she didn’t recall Hegseth leading her to his hotel room, but she “remembered saying 'no' a lot,” and recalled the ex-Fox News host taking her phone from her and blocking her path to the door with his body.
The alleged victim told police her next memory was being underneath Hegseth in his hotel room with the ex-National Guardsman’s dog tags dangling over her face. She added that Hegseth did not wear a condom and ejaculated on her body, details Hegseth confirmed. The victim could not remember how she returned to her hotel room but said she woke up there.
Hegseth told police he remembered having sex with the complainant, but said it was a consensual encounter and he maintained communication with the alleged victim. Hegseth claimed he asked the alleged victim if it was okay to proceed without a condom, and that she said yes.
The alleged victim also laid out a pattern of Hegseth’s behavior towards women that upset her throughout the night in the report, recalling he “was giving off a ‘creeper’ vibe” and that he was rubbing women’s legs.
In the report, the alleged victim describes an altercation with Hegseth near the hotel pool before the assault.
“The argument was about HEGSETH'S actions with the women at the conference,” the report reads, adding that Hegseth told the victim “he was a nice guy.”
A staff member at the hotel described a belligerent and “very intoxicated” Hegseth shouting about his right to “freedom of speech” near the pool after guest complaints.
A friend of the accuser said Hegseth had placed a hand on her leg at the hotel bar, and that the alleged victim intervened to prevent Hegseth from making more passes at her after she told him the contact was unwelcome.
Hegseth was ultimately not charged for the alleged assault, and the report was shelved from 2017 until Wednesday.
A source inside Trump's transition team told Vanity Fair last week that the president-elect’s staff was unaware of the allegations before picking Hegseth, leading to a feeling that they’d been caught off guard. Hegseth’s attorney admitted last weekend that the ex-Fox News host paid the accuser off in 2020, fearing his gig at the network was on the line if she came forward.
The full report’s release may complicate Hegseth’s Senate confirmation process next year, one of at least four cabinet appointees who were involved in past or ongoing sexual misconduct investigations.
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., tapped to lead the Department of Justice, faced a House Ethics investigation for a host of drug and sexual misconduct charges; would-be Health and Human Services boss Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was accused of sexual assault by a former babysitter; and Linda McMahon, asked to lead the Department of Education, is named along with her husband in a lawsuit alleging the pair covered up rampant sexual abuse of minors.
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