A police report released late on Wednesday night provided a detailed account of how a California woman was prevented from leaving her hotel room and allegedly sexually assaulted by Fox News host Pete Hegseth, who has been selected by President-elect Donald Trump to serve as the secretary of defense.
The report, obtained by Mediaite, provides a detailed account of the interaction between Hegseth and the woman, identified as Jane Doe. The 24-page report was provided by the City of Monterey, California, and was released to Hegseth in March 2021 at his request.
On October 8, 2017, Two separate women told the police that Hegseth placed his hand on their legs and requested that they return to his hotel room. One woman stated that she invited Doe to act as a buffer between her and the Fox News host.
At 1:30 a.m., Hegseth and Doe got into in an argument outside the hotel pool. A hotel staff member approached the pair, and Hegseth was reportedly cursing. The video footage shows the individuals walking away from the scene arm-in-arm, the report states.
Doe, who was 30 years old at the time of the assault, stated that she had been consuming alcohol and the next memory she had was being in the hotel room. She alleged that Hegseth took her phone, prevented her from leaving by blocking the door, and sexually assaulted her despite her repeatedly saying “no” and ejaculating on her stomach.
“Doe remembers Hegseth preventing her from leaving and somehow ended up on top of her,” the report says. She told investigators Hegseth threw a towel at her and asked her “are you ok?” and “clean it up.”
“They both would stop and say ‘we shouldn’t do this’ but things consensually continued,” the report said.
Following the attack, Doe went to a local hospital and requested a rape-kit exam.
Per the report, Hegseth vehemently denied all allegations against him and provided a contradictory account of his level of intoxication at the time of the incident. Hegseth told the police that he asked for Doe’s consent for sex and she led him from the bar to the hotel and prevented him from leaving.
CNN reported that Hegseth’s attorney said the Fox News host paid a woman who accused him of sexual assault in a settlement agreement.
Mother Jones has reported that Hegseth has connections to a contentious Christian nationalist organization known as the TheoBros. This group touts the belief that women should not be granted the right to vote or serve in the military. An archived interview reveals Hegseth agreed with this stance.
The allegations against Hegseth has been a headache for the Trump transition team and the President-elect does not like the distraction that both Hegseth and Matt Gaetz are causing but up until now, the focus has been on Gaetz.
“People are upset about the distraction. The general feeling is Pete hasn’t been honest,” a source told Vanity Fair.
