Graphic details about a sexual assault allegation against Donald Trump’s defense secretary pick Pete Hegseth have come to light in a newly-released police report.
The woman at the center of the allegation told police that Hegseth physically blocked the door to stop her from leaving his hotel room and took her phone away, before sexually assaulting her, according to the police report, seen by The Independent.
The woman, referred to throughout the 22-page report as Jane Doe, also told police she remembered saying “‘no’ a lot” to Hegseth during the alleged assault which took place after a Republican women’s conference at the Hyatt Hotel in Monterey, California, on October 8 2017.
The police report released on Wednesday night by the city’s attorney office of Monterey sheds new light on the alleged details of the incident, including how Hegseth was “very intoxicated” and was “giving off a ‘creeper’ vibe.”
Hegseth has maintained that the encounter was consensual and, in the police report, he stated “there was ‘always’ conversation and ‘always’ consensual contact” between the two of them.
His lawyer said Hegseth paid the woman in 2023 to head off the threat of a baseless lawsuit.
The Independent has contacted the Trump transition team for comment.
A Trump transition spokeswoman told the Associated Press that the report “corroborates what Mr Hegseth’s attorneys have said all along: the incident was fully investigated and no charges were filed because police found the allegations to be false.”
The report does not say that police found the allegations were false.
The case was recommend to be forwarded to the Monterey County district attorney’s office for review.
No charges were brought against Hegseth.
The new details could further harm Hegseth’s chances of confirmation by the Senate to head up the Pentagon, with Trump’s inner circle reportedly “quietly preparing a list of alternative” candidates after the allegation took them by surprise.
Investigators were first alerted to the alleged assault, the report said, by a nurse who called them after a patient requested a sexual assault exam. The patient told medical personnel she believed she was assaulted five days earlier but couldn’t remember much about what had happened.
She told authorities that something may have been slipped into her drink that night, before ending up in the hotel room where she said the assault occurred.
On the night in question, the Fox News host was a speaker at the California Federation of Republican women gathering and Doe stated to police that she “observed Hegseth acting inappropriately” with the women at the conference. She noticed him stroking several women’s thighs, the report said.
Doe noted that women “thought Hegseth was ‘dreamy,’” and asked for photos with him, whereas she thought he was “giving off a ‘creeper’ vibe.”
After the event, the woman, whose husband was at the event, and others attended an afterparty in a hotel suite where she said she confronted Hegseth, telling him that she “did not appreciate how he treated women,” the police report states.
A group of people, including Hegseth and the woman, decamped for the hotel’s bar. That’s when “things got fuzzy,” the woman told police.
She remembered having a drink at the bar with Hegseth and others, the police report states. She also told police that she argued with Hegseth near the hotel pool, an account that is supported by a hotel staffer who was sent to handle the disturbance and spoke to police, according to the report.
Doe recalled Hegseth telling her that he was “a nice guy” during the exchange. In his statement to police, Hegseth had no recollection of the altercation by the pool.
The next memory Doe had, the report said, was being in an unknown room with Hegseth. “Doe remembered having her phone and Hegseth inquired to whom Doe was texting,” the report said. “Hegseth took her phone from her hands. Doe stated she got up and tried to leave the room, but Hegseth blocked the door with his body. Doe remembered saying ‘no’ a lot.”
Her next memory was when she was on the bed or couch and “Hegseth was over her,” barechested, his dog tags “hovering over her face,” the report said. After ejaculating on her stomach, Hegseth “threw a towel at her and asked her ‘are you ok?’” the police eport said.
Her last memory was getting back to her room where she got into bed with her husband.
Hegseth’s account said that Doe led him by the arm back to his hotel room, which surprised him because he initially had no intention of having sex with her, the report said. He said he found it “odd” that Doe did not leave his room.
Hegseth, according to the report, “continuously asked Doe if she was okay because he did not want Doe to get in trouble.” Hegseth also told police that the woman “showed early signs of regret” the next morning, but did not elaborate further.
Hegseth’s attorney said a payment was made to the woman as part of a confidential settlement a few years after the police investigation because Hegseth was concerned that she was prepared to file a lawsuit that he feared could have resulted in him being fired from Fox News, where he was a popular host. The attorney would not reveal the amount of the payment.
The Associated Press contributed reporting
