Pete Hegseth, President-elect Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, has denied allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman in 2017, saying in a statement through his lawyer that he was subject to blackmail.
Timothy Parlatore said his client “is completely innocent.”
“He was cleared after a police investigation determined that the woman was the aggressor in the situation and was then the subject of blackmail,” Parlatore said in a statement. “False claims like this undermine the gravity of real sexual assault cases.”
Hegseth, a former Fox News personality, was investigated as part of an alleged sexual assault in October 2017 at a hotel in Monterey, Calif., in which the victim also received a bruise to her right thigh.
The city of Monterey did not indicate charges were filed in the case, nor name Hegseth as the aggressor in a release issued last week confirming an investigation.
Trump is committed to having Hegseth head the Pentagon, despite the concerns about the 2017 incident, according to the New York Times.
The Times reported that the Trump team had received a memo from a person claiming to be a friend of the woman who was allegedly raped. The memo, which was not independently verified, said the woman, who has a husband and children, was an organizer at the conference where Hegseth was speaking at the Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel and Spa in October 2017.
Hegseth reportedly was being pushy about taking two women to his hotel room from the bar, and the woman walked over to intervene, according to The Times. The woman has only hazy memories of being in Hegseth’s room and walking back to her own, according to the memo.
Parlatore confirmed he sent a cease-and-desist letter to the woman in 2020 after learning she was going to file a lawsuit against Hegseth.
The lawyer has said the encounter was consensual and that Hegseth was the intoxicated one. The two parties settled a few months after the cease-and-desist because of concern about the allegations coming out during the #metoo movement, Parlatore has said.
Hegseth, a veteran of the Army National Guard, has worked with Fox News as a commentator since 2014 and was a former co-host of “FOX & Friends Weekend.”
Hegseth, who has also previously led the organization Concerned Veterans for America, has come under scrutiny following Trump’s selection of him to lead the Defense Department.
He has called to eliminate “woke” generals from the Pentagon, has defended the Jan. 6, 2021, rioters at the U.S. Capitol and has said women should not serve in combat roles, while members of the transgender community should not be allowed to serve at all.
Hegseth joins at least three other nominees whom Trump has selected who have been criticized for their lack of experience and extreme views.
