Trump’s pick for defense secretary paid plaintiff but denies sexual assault, lawyer says

() – President-elect Donald Trump’s appointed Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, paid off a woman who accused him of sexual assault in a settlement agreement that included a confidentiality clause, according to Hegseth’s lawyer.

Attorney Timothy Parlatore said Hegseth denies assaulting the woman and has characterized the October 2017 incident in Monterey, California, as a “consensual sexual encounter.”

Monterey city officials confirmed last week that local police had investigated “an alleged sexual assault” involving Hegseth. The city declined to release information about the victim and said it would not release the full police report or comment further on the investigation, citing the state’s public records law.

Hegseth has not been charged in any criminal case or named as a defendant in any civil lawsuit in connection with the incident.

In 2020, Hegseth learned that the woman was considering filing a lawsuit, Parlatore said in statements provided to .

The White House in Washington, DC, on Friday, May 17, 2024.
Related article
Inside the conservative hunt for supporters in the federal government before Trump takes office

Parlatore said the payment to the married woman was “a significantly reduced amount” and that Hegseth, a veteran turned Fox News host, settled because it was during the “Me Too” movement and he didn’t want to lose his job in the chain if the accusation became public. The attorney’s statement does not say how much Hegseth’s accuser was paid in the settlement.

Parlatore said Hegseth felt like a victim of blackmail.

spoke briefly with the alleged victim on Thursday. She became visibly upset at the mention of Hegseth’s name, but declined to be interviewed without first contacting her attorney. She said she didn’t know what she was authorized to say.

The woman, whom is not naming because she is an alleged victim of sexual assault, did not respond to subsequent requests to be interviewed. The agreement and confidentiality clause were first reported by the Washington Post on Saturday night.

The alleged assault took place in the early morning of October 8, 2017, at the address of the Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel and Spa, and was reported by the woman four days later, according to the city statement. Hegseth was a speaker at a conference held by the California Federation of Republican Women at a hotel during the time of the alleged assault.

Trump last week chose Hegseth to be his Secretary of Defense even though he has no high-ranking military or public office experience, which surprised both Pentagon officials and the former president’s own allies. Trump’s announcement was quickly followed by news of the alleged sexual assault, which caught the president-elect’s transition team off guard, reported Friday.

Trump’s communications director defended Hegseth in an earlier statement to , saying he “strongly denied each and every allegation, and no charges were filed.”

“We look forward to his confirmation as United States Secretary of Defense so he can begin on day one to Make America Safe and Great Again,” said Steven Cheung.

‘s Kyung Lah and Scott Glover contributed to this report.