Police report reveals assault allegations against Hegseth, Trump’s pick for defense secretary

A woman told police she was sexually assaulted in 2017 after Pete Hegseth took her phone, closed the door to a California hotel room and refused to let her leave, according to a detailed investigative report made public late Wednesday.

Hegseth, a former Fox News personality and President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, told police at the time that the encounter was consensual and denied any wrongdoing, the report said.

News of the allegations emerged last week when local officials issued a brief statement confirming that a woman had been accused of sexual assault after Hegseth spoke at a Republican women’s event in Monterey in October 2017.

“The matter was fully investigated and I was fully exonerated,” Hegseth told reporters Thursday at the U.S. Capitol, where she met with senators to build support for her nomination.

The report does not say that police determined the allegations were false. Police recommended that the case report be forwarded to the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office for review.