A woman told police that Pat Hegseth sexually assaulted her in 2017 when he took her phone, locked the door to a California hotel room and left her, according to a detailed investigative report late Wednesday. He refused to let her go.
Hegseth, a Fox News personality and President-elect Donald Trump’s defense secretary nominee, told police at the time that the encounter was consensual and denied any wrongdoing, the report said.
News of the allegations came to light last week when local officials released a brief statement confirming that a woman had accused Hegseth of sexual assault after he spoke at a Republican Women’s event in Monterey in October 2017. was accused.
An attorney for Hegseth did not immediately respond to a request for comment early Thursday. He has said Hegseth paid the woman to avoid the threat of a groundless lawsuit in 2023.
The 22-page police report was released in response to a public records request and provides the first detailed account of what the woman allegedly did – which contradicts Hegseth’s version of events. The report cited police interviews with the alleged victim, the nurse who treated her, hotel staff, another woman at the event and Hegseth.
The woman’s name has not been released, and The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually assaulted.
“The report confirms what Mr. Hegseth’s attorneys have said as well: The incident was fully investigated and no charges were brought because The police found the allegations false.”
The report did not say that the police found the allegations false. Police recommended that the case report be forwarded to the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office for review.
Investigators were first alerted to the alleged assault by a nurse who called them after requesting a sexual assault exam on a patient, the report said. The patient told medical staff that she believed she had been assaulted five days earlier but could not remember much about what had happened. She reported that something had slipped into her drink before ending up in the hotel room where she said the assault took place.
Police collected the unwashed clothes and underwear she had worn that night, the report said.
The woman’s partner, who was staying with her at the hotel, told police he was worried about her after she didn’t return to their room that night. At 2 a.m., he went to the hotel bar, but she was not there. She returned it a few hours later, apologizing that she “must have fallen asleep.” A few days later, she told him that she had been sexually assaulted.
The woman, who helped organize the California Federation of Republican Women’s rally at which Hegseth spoke, told police that she had seen the TV anchor making inappropriate gestures throughout the night and that he had groped several women’s thighs. But I have seen him beating his hands. According to the report, she texted a friend that Hegseth was giving off a “creeper” vibe.
After the event, the woman and others attended an afterparty in a hotel suite where she said she confronted Hegseth, telling him “he didn’t appreciate the way he treated women,” the report said. I have been told.
A group of people, including Hegseth and the woman, camped outside the hotel bar. That’s when “things got fuzzy,” the woman told police.
The police report said he remembered drinking with Hegseth and others at the bar. He also told police that he argued with Hegseth near the hotel pool, an account supported by a hotel staff member who was sent to handle the disturbance and, according to the report, told police. Talked to
Soon, she told police, she was in a hotel room with Hegseth, who took her phone and locked the door with her body so she couldn’t leave, according to the report. He also told police he “remembered saying ‘no’ a lot,” the report said.
Her next memory was lying on a couch or bed with Hegseth hovering over her bare chest, her dog tags hanging over her, the report said. Hegseth served in the National Guard, rising to the rank of major.
After Hegseth finished, he called her back and asked if she was “okay,” the report said. She told police she did not remember how she got back to her hotel room and had suffered nightmares and memory loss ever since.
At the time of the alleged attack in 2017, Hegseth, now 44, was divorcing his second wife, with whom he has three children. According to court records and Hegseth’s social media posts, she filed for divorce after having a child with a Fox News producer who is now his wife. According to court records, her first marriage ended in 2009, after Hegseth’s infidelity.
Hegseth said he attended a party and drank beer but not alcohol, and he admitted to being “buzzed” but not drunk.
He said he met the woman at a hotel bar, and she took him by the arm and led him to her hotel room, which surprised him because he initially wanted to have sex with her. There was no intention.
Hegseth told investigators that the ensuing sexual encounter was consensual, adding that he pointedly asked more than once if she was comfortable. Hegseth said in the morning that the woman “showed early signs of remorse,” and he assured her that he would not tell anyone about the encounter.
Hegseth’s attorney said the woman was paid as part of a secret settlement a few years after the police investigation because Hegseth feared she was ready to file a lawsuit he feared would expose her. He could be fired from Fox News as a result. He was a popular host. The attorney would not disclose the amount of the payment.
