Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary, paid off a woman who accused him of sexual assault in 2017 as part of a settlement agreement, a lawyer for Hegseth said in a filing Saturday. press release.
Tim Parlatore, an attorney for the former Fox News star, said in the statement that Hegseth settled in December 2020 only because he feared his career would suffer if his allegations were made public. Parlatore said Hegseth was subjected to “blackmail” and “false allegations of sexual assault” by an unidentified woman after a Republican women’s convention in California on October 7, 2017.
“Knowing that this was the height of the MeToo movement and that any public accusations would result in his immediate dismissal from Fox, Mr. Hegseth ultimately decided to take a deal for a significantly reduced amount,” according to the statement.
U.S. President Donald Trump is interviewed by Fox and Friends co-host Pete Hegseth at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 6, 2017.
Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
According to Parlatore, Hegseth met the woman at a party after an event, where he became “visibly intoxicated.” The woman “led him by the arm to her hotel room” where the two men had a “consensual sexual encounter.”
“Plaintiff was the aggressor in initiating sexual activity,” Parlatore wrote.
As ABC News previously reported, the woman filed a police report days later, but no charges were filed. Two years later, according to Parlatore, the woman “started making noise about filing a complaint against Mr. Hegseth.” His colleagues “warned us of the threat,” prompting Hegseth and his legal team to send him a cease and desist letter.
Parlatore did not disclose the settlement amount.
According to the Washington Post, Parlatore’s statement – which was first reported by the newspaper – came after a friend of the alleged victim sent a note to Trump transition officials last week to attract their pay attention to the incident.
Pete Hegseth walks into an elevator to meet with President-elect Donald Trump at Trump Tower in New York on December 15, 2016.
Evan Vucci/AP
The memo, which ABC News neither obtained nor reviewed, reportedly said the woman — who was described by the Post as a 30-year-old member of the conservative group at the time — was responsible for ensuring that ‘Hegseth returns to his country. hotel room at the end of the night.
In an article on X, Trump’s team said the president-elect supported Hegseth.
“Mr. Hegseth has vigorously denied all accusations, and no charges have been filed,” said Stephen Cheung, Trump’s communications director. “We look forward to his confirmation as US Secretary of Defense. United.”
Trump’s team did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment. The person who sent the memo to the transition team did not respond to requests for comment from The Post.
According to the memo, two other women summoned her when Hegseth became “insistent about his interest in taking them upstairs to his room.”
After the other two women left, the woman “didn’t remember anything until she was in Hegseth’s hotel room and stumbled to find his hotel room.” The next day, she “had a moment of blurred memory of her rape the night before and had a panic attack,” the note reads.
The woman then went to the emergency room where an examination of the rape kit “came back positive for the presence of semen,” the Post reported, according to the memo.
Monterey city officials said in a statement that police investigated a “sexual assault” that allegedly occurred early in the morning of Oct. 8, 2017, at a Hyatt Regency hotel. The incident did not involve a weapon, but the victim reportedly suffered “bruising to the right thigh.”
Hegseth is not identified in the city’s statement as the alleged attacker. The victim’s name and age are listed as “confidential.”
A police report was filed a few days later, on October 12. A Monterey Superior Court spokesperson told ABC News on Thursday that there was no record in the records with Hegseth’s name as a party.
