Peter Hegseth, the military veteran, former Fox & Friends chat host and Donald Trump’s pick to head the US Department of Defense, reportedly paid a woman who accused him of sexual assault – an encounter that he insists was consensual.
According to the Washington Post, the unnamed woman was paid an unknown sum after signing a nondisclosure agreement.
In a statement to the outlet, Hegseth’s attorney said that Hegseth was “visibly intoxicated” at the time of the incident and police who had looked into the woman’s claim had concluded that “the complainant had been the aggressor in the encounter.”
In the statement, Hegseth’s lawyer, Timothy Parlatore, said his client had agreed to pay an undisclosed amount to the woman because he feared that revelation of the matter “would result in his immediate termination from Fox”.
The claim against Hegseth came to light this week after a friend of the accuser supplied the Trump transition team with “a detailed memo” outlining the claim that Hegseth sexually assaulted a 30-year-old conservative group staffer in his room after drinking at a Monterey, California, hotel bar in October 2017.
Hegseth was a speaker at a conference of the California Federation of Republican Women conference when the encounter that led to the investigation took place. Police have said a complaint was filed four days after the alleged encounter, and the complainant had bruises to her thigh.
Hegseth made a payment to the woman after she threatened litigation in 2020, his attorney confirmed.
“Mr Hegseth is completely innocent,” Parlatore said. “Not only did she take advantage of him, but we believe she then extorted him knowing that at the height of the #MeToo movement the mere public allegation would likely result in his immediate termination from Fox News.”
Earlier this week, after the claim was revealed the Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said: “Hegseth has vigorously denied any and all accusations, and no charges were filed. We look forward to his confirmation as United States Secretary of Defense so he can get started on Day One to Make America Safe and Great Again.”
Hegseth’s path to Senate confirmation has been complicated over concerns about his inexperience and extreme views.
This article was amended on 18 November 2024. An earlier version said that Peter Hegseth was a current Fox & Friends host. He left the role last week.
