A resurfaced police report detailing 2017 allegations of sexual assault against Pete Hegseth reveals the victim suspected that she was drugged and "remembered saying no a lot."
Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for defense secretary, faces renewed scrutiny amid resurfaced allegations of sexual assault from 2017. The accuser, identified as "Jane Doe," told Monterey police she believed she was drugged and assaulted by Hegseth following a Republican conference in California, the Washington Post reported.
Key points from police report on Hegseth's alleged sexual assault:
— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) November 21, 2024
-it was first reported by a nurse, not the accuser
-accuser suggested she might have been drugged
-2 other women at the event said Hegseth placed a hand on their thighs and invited them up to his hotel room pic.twitter.com/P3kA0cueSa
The woman, a conservative staffer, said she confronted Hegseth at the conference over his "inappropriate" behavior toward two other women, one of whom allegedly asked that she intervene. The women told police Hegseth had invited them to his hotel room after placing his hand on their thighs.
Doe confronted Hegseth, and he reportedly told her he was a "nice guy." She told police her memory as "fuzzy," but recalled being in an unknown room where Hegseth allegedly blocked the door, "took her phone from her hands," and ignored her repeated refusals. "JANE DOE remembered saying 'no' a lot," the report reads.
According to the police report, Doe told a nurse days later that she suspected her drink had been spiked. A nurse documented her account and contacted police. However, no charges were filed, and Hegseth has maintained the encounter was consensual.
Hegseth's lawyer, Timothy Parlatore, claimed surveillance footage showed the two walking arm-in-arm with Doe smiling and coherent, alleging she was the "aggressor." Witness accounts varied, with one describing Doe as coherent and Hegseth as intoxicated, while Hegseth told police he was only "buzzed."
In 2020, Hegseth reached a financial settlement with Doe as part of a nondisclosure agreement.
Trump's transition team was alerted to the allegations last week through a memo from a friend of the accuser, and has since defended Hegseth.
"Pete Hegseth is a highly-respected Combat Veteran who will honorably serve our country when he is confirmed as the next Secretary of Defense, just like he honorably served our country on the battlefield in uniform," Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said.
Originally published on Latin Times.
