Trump defense pays accuser to save Fox News business but denies claim

President-elect Donald Trump paid a woman who accused him of sexual assault while serving as defense secretary to keep quiet so she wouldn’t risk losing her job at Fox News, her lawyer told the BBC’s US partner CBS News.

Fox host Pete Hegseth denies any wrongdoing and says the sex was consensual.

His lawyer told CBS that Hegseth made a secret financial settlement because he feared he would be fired from his job at the news network.

The lawyer added that the agreement deterred the woman from filing a lawsuit.

Attorney Timothy Parlatore explained that the woman and her attorney knew that filing a lawsuit would “cause an immediate storm of fear for (Hegseth).”

“The reality is that if they had filed (a lawsuit), the legal process takes quite a long time, and so Fox News would probably have fired him based on that allegation,” he told CBS.

Hegseth’s lawyer previously confirmed that he was investigated by California authorities for an alleged sexual assault in 2017. He was never arrested or charged.

The latest news comes just days after Trump chose Hegseth as secretary of defense. If confirmed by the US Senate, the 44-year-old veteran will be in charge of the world’s most powerful military in his first political term.

Mr. Parlatore told CBS that he spoke to Trump’s transition team after Hegseth was appointed secretary of defense and explained the situation surrounding the allegation. He said he was unaware of any previous conversations Hegseth had with the team or whether the team knew about the deal.

The woman filed a complaint with the Monterey Police Department, claiming that she was attacked by Hegseth at the Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel and Spa in 2017.

The Washington Post first reported Hegseth’s payment to the woman and obtained a memo sent to Trump’s transition team from a friend of the accuser. The note accused Hegseth of raping a conservative group employee after drinking at the hotel bar.

Parlatore told CBS that there was eyewitness statements and camera footage showing that the woman was sober and that he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her upstairs.

According to Parlatore, the woman made “false allegations” against Hegseth two years after the incident and threatened to sue him. He sent her a cease and desist letter in February 2020.

A year later, Parlatore said, he learned he had an attorney for his case.

Hegseth’s attorney told CBS News that the settlement payment was made “several years ago” but did not specify an exact date.

The transition team said the allegation did not cause Trump to rethink his pick for defense secretary.

“President Trump is nominating highly qualified and highly qualified candidates to serve in his administration. Mr. Hegseth has vehemently denied all allegations and no criminal charges have been filed,” said Steven Cheung, Trump’s communications director.

North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher makes sense of the presidential elections in his twice-weekly US Election Unspun newsletter. UK readers sign up here. Those outside the UK can: sign up here.