President-elect Donald Trump’s defense secretary pick, Pete Hegseth, paid a woman who accused him of sexual assault in a settlement agreement that included a confidentiality clause, according to Hegseth’s attorney.
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 last week confirmed 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 state 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 the woman was considering filing a lawsuit, Parlatore said in statement provided to CNN.
Parlatore said the payment to the married woman was of “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 at the network if the accusation became public. The attorney’s statement did not say how much Hegseth’s accuser was paid in the settlement.
Parlatore said Hegseth felt that he was the victim of blackmail.
CNN spoke briefly with the alleged victim on Thursday. She became visibly distraught at the mention of Hegseth’s name but declined to be interviewed without first contacting her attorney. She said she did not know what she was authorized to say.
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