Police Report Sheds New Light on Pentagon Nominee Hegseth's Sexual Encounter That Led to Alleged Assault

A woman claimed that President Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, prevented her from leaving her hotel room, took her phone and sexually assaulted her. A detailed police report made public Wednesday.

The complainant, whose name was removed from the report, later requested a sexual assault examination at a hospital, prompting a nurse to report the 2017 incident to law enforcement.

Hegseth, who was tasked with managing the army and the country’s largest federal bureaucracy, strongly denied the allegation of sexual assault, stating that the sexual relationship with the married woman was consensual. He told police he repeatedly sought the woman’s consent throughout the interaction and insisted she appeared willing. Video footage cited in the report shows the pair leaving a hotel bar earlier that evening with their arms linked and appearing friendly.

“I’m going to keep it very simple, the matter was fully investigated and I was fully cleared and I’ll leave it at that,” Hegseth told reporters Thursday after meeting with several Republican senators on Capitol Hill.

The former Fox New personality has a history of infidelity, including an extramarital affair with a woman who would become his third wife while he was still married to his second wife. A checkered sexual history may draw increased scrutiny of security clearances that grant access to the military’s top secrets and be viewed as a vulnerability that can be exploited by enemies.

But in practice, Trump and the executive branch could waive any issues that might arise in investigating Hegseth’s background if he is confirmed to lead the Pentagon.

The sexual assault allegation, disclosed by local officials in California after Hegseth was nominated by Trump, has become a potential political liability as Hegseth seeks support in the Senate, which vets and confirms presidential nominees. Matt Gaetz, another Trump candidate for US attorney general, withdrew from consideration on Thursday amid allegations that he paid women for sex, had sex with an underage teenager and used illegal drugs.

The alleged incident involving Hegseth occurred in October 2017 during a Republican women’s conference held at the Hyatt hotel in Monterey, California. The woman told police she had been drinking with Hegseth at the hotel bar and her memory began to blur. He said he remembered being in Hegseth’s hotel room and saying “no” repeatedly.

After sexual intercourse, the woman told Hegseth that she would tell her husband, who was staying at the same hotel, that she had fallen asleep on the couch in someone else’s room. Hegseth told him he didn’t need to worry about her saying anything, but told authorities he “showed early signs of remorse.”

Hegseth paid the woman an undisclosed amount of money under a confidentiality agreement in 2020, according to his attorney, Tim Parlatore. Who told Military.com this? the sex was consensual and the former Fox News host was the victim of blackmail.

Military.com reached out to Parlatore for details of the police report but did not hear back in time for publication.

Before his nomination, Hegseth was known as a former co-host of “Fox and Friends Weekend” and for his frequent appearances on Fox News. The station told Military.com on Monday that Hegseth no longer works there. He also served for 13 years. National Guardwith several interruptions in service and left as a major in 2021.

After the 2017 incident, the woman told police that she did not remember how Hegseth got into the bedroom, only that his military tags were hanging around his neck and over his head.

He told authorities he couldn’t remember how much alcohol he consumed, but told the hospital nurse his drink might have been drugged because his memory was blurry. Witnesses told police he had no obvious hangover symptoms the next day.

Hegseth was never charged, but local police said the allegations were unfounded. Meanwhile, some Republicans on Capitol Hill downplayed the sex act Thursday as Hegseth and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance visited offices to drum up support for the nomination.

“I don’t think there’s any way you can say this was sexual assault,” Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told reporters after meeting with Hegseth. “You can read the report for yourself. If you do, you can clearly see that the two men were flirting with each other. … There’s a reason why no charges were filed.”

When asked whether his history of alleged assault and infidelity made Hegseth a security risk, Mullin dismissed that concern.

“Infidelity? He wasn’t married at the time,” Mullin said of the alleged assault.

But court records dispute that claim.

Two months before the incident, in August 2017, Hegseth Fox News producer’s daughter Jennifer Rauchet, according to social media couple’s posts. A month later, Hegseth’s second wife, Samantha, filed for divorce, according to Minnesota court records. Records show the divorce wasn’t finalized until July 2018.

This incident also isn’t the first time Hegseth has been revealed to be unfaithful.

Hegseth’s first marriage, to Meredith Schwarz, ended when he filed for divorce in 2008, according to Minnesota court records. Multiple outlets reported that the marriage ended due to Hegseth’s infidelity, citing the divorce decree.

But none of this prevented Hegseth from ascending into Trump’s orbit.

In the years following the sexual assault allegation, Rauchet and Hegseth were married at Trump National Golf Club Colts Neck in New Jersey, and she successfully lobbied then-President Trump to exonerate the two. Army Commutation of sentences of police officers accused of murder while serving in Afghanistan Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher, accused of fatally stabbing a young ISIS prisoner.

Hegeseth was also thought to be the leader. Department of Veterans Affairs Before Trump’s first term ends.

However, Hegseth’s nomination this month came as a surprise choice to head the Pentagon due to his inexperience in defense policy and modest military experience. He concluded his military career with a brief stint serving as a mid-level part-time officer in the Washington, D.C. National Guard; this would not have exposed him to high-level military planning or operations.

He has also long opposed women serving in military combat roles that could impact thousands of soldiers if he serves as defense minister, and questions whether women in the military make the country safer.

Relating to: Thousands of Women Serve in Combat Missions. Pentagon Nominee Hegseth Says They Shouldn’t Have.

The Story Continues

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