Trump’s Defense Secretary Selected Paid Woman to Prevent Sexual Assault Lawsuit: Report

Last Update:17 November 2024 23:10 IST

Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, was accused of sexual assault in 2017 and has denied any wrongdoing.

Pete Hegseth’s lawyer said the encounter was consensual and he was the victim of a “successful extortion” (Image: Facebook)

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, paid a woman who accused him of sexual assault to eliminate the threat of a false lawsuit, according to Hegseth’s lawyer.

According to the statement made by the city, Hegseth was accused of sexual assault after he spoke at an event attended by Republican women in Monterey, California, in 2017. No charges were filed.

His lawyer Tim Parlatore said: Associated Press The claim that the sexual intercourse was consensual on Sunday and that the woman who made the accusation days later was “aggressive” was not confirmed in the statement made by the municipality.

Parlatore said the woman was paid in a secret settlement several years after the police investigation because Hegseth believed a threatening lawsuit could get him fired. Fox Newswhere he was a popular host at the time. Parlatore did not disclose the amount of the payment.

“He was falsely accused and my view is that he was the victim of blackmail,” Parlatore said, calling it a case of “successful extortion.”

Washington Post Details of the payment were previously reported. The newspaper also reported that it had obtained a copy of a memo detailing allegations of sexual assault that was sent to Trump’s transition team last week by a woman who said she was a friend of his accuser.

Trump’s transition team had no comment on the memo Sunday.

According to the statement made by the municipality, the person who reported the attack (whose name, age and gender were not disclosed) had bruises on his right thigh. The person told police that no weapon was involved in the shooting.

According to the statement made by the municipality, the incident occurred between 23.59 on October 7 and 07:00 the next morning.

Hegseth was in Monterey to address the California Federation of Republican Women during a banquet dinner at the group’s biennial convention, according to social media posts and promotional materials at the time.

Monterey officials said they are keeping further details in the police report confidential because it contains analysis and conclusions from law enforcement officials who are exempt from release under the state public records law.

At the time of the 2017 accusations, Hegseth, now 44, was in the process of divorcing his second wife, with whom he had three children. According to court records and Hegseth’s social media posts, she filed for divorce after having a child with her now-husband, a Fox News producer. Her first marriage also ended in 2009 after Hegseth was infidelity, according to court records.

After the accusations first surfaced last week, Trump transition spokesman Steven Cheung released a statement saying the president-elect had “nominated highly qualified and highly qualified candidates to serve in his Administration.”

“Mr Hegseth vehemently denied all allegations and no criminal charges were filed. We look forward to his confirmation as the United States Secretary of Defense so he can begin Day One of Making America Safe and Great Again,” Cheung said.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – Associated Press)

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