A police report released late on Wednesday about a 2017 sexual assault allegation against Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Defense Department, showed that a California woman complained to the police that she was physically blocked from leaving a hotel room and then sexually assaulted by the former Fox News host.
Former Fox anchor Pete Hegseth has vehemently denied the sexual assault allegations.
According to the Associated Press, the Monterey Police Department released the report—which summarizes police interviews of the alleged victim, Hegseth, a hospital nurse and a few other people—in response to a public records request.
The unnamed accuser, identified only as “Jane Doe” in the report, told police she met Hegseth at a conference organized by the California Federation of Republican Women at the Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel and Spa.
She claimed she had noticed that he was acting inappropriately with the other women during the conference and she sent a text message to someone that Hegseth “was giving off a ‘creeper’ vibe,”, CNN reported.
The accuser said she remembered having an argument with Hegseth after the event near the hotel pool about the way he treated women at the conference and then remembers ending up in Hegseth’s room where he allegedly took away her phone, and blocked the door when she tried to leave.
Doe later informed a hospital nurse that she was “not sure,” but believed something may have been slipped into her drink because her memory of the night’s events was hazy.
In the report, the woman said she did not remember if any “sexual penetration occurred,” but remembered Hegseth hovering over her and ejaculating on her stomach.
Hegseth told the police that their encounter was consensual and asked her multiple times if she was comfortable, but in the morning he realized she was showing “early signs of regret,” and tried to assure her he would not tell anyone about the encounter.
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A spokesperson from the Trump transition team told the Associated Press that the “report corroborates what Mr. Hegseth’s attorneys have said all along: the incident was fully investigated and no charges were filed because police found the allegations to be false.” However, AP noted the report did not mention if the allegations were false, and the police recommended the case be forwarded to the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office for review. Hegseth was not charged with any crime in the case.
Last week, Hegseth denied the allegations through his lawyer Timothy Parlatore, who told the Washington Post Hegseth was “visibly intoxicated” at the time of the incident and alleged the accuser “had been the aggressor,” and led Hegseth “by the arm to his hotel room,” citing surveillance footage. The report mentioned that surveillance footage showed the two of them leaving a hotel bar with their arms locked together. But Hegseth told police he had only consumed some beer at an after-party following the event, and he was only “buzzed” but not intoxicated that night.
Police report reveals assault allegations against Hegseth (Associated Press)
Police Report Offers Graphic Details of Sexual Assault Claim Against Hegseth (New York Times)