Trump pick said he settled assault accusation for $50K

Pete Hegseth instructed Sen. Elizabeth Warren that he paid $50,000 to a girl who accused him of sexually assaulting her. He has mentioned he was falsely accused over the incident, which grew to become a spotlight of Democrats in his affirmation hearings.

President Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of protection revealed the quantity he paid in written responses to an in depth checklist of over 70 questions despatched to him prematurely of his affirmation hearings by Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat on the Senate Armed Companies Committee, and obtained by The nineteenth. The Related Press first reported the settlement quantity. 

Hegseth paid the confidential settlement to a girl who accused him of sexually assaulting her at a Republican ladies’s convention in Monterey, California, in October 2017. 

She reported the matter to police, however no expenses have been ever filed in opposition to Hegseth. He and his representatives have maintained that the encounter was consensual. On the time, Hegseth was nonetheless legally married to his second spouse and had not too long ago welcomed a baby with the lady who would develop into his third. 

“Once more, utterly false expenses in opposition to me. They have been absolutely investigated and I used to be utterly cleared,” he mentioned in his January 14 affirmation listening to. 

“However you acknowledge that you simply cheated in your spouse and also you cheated on a girl by whom you had simply fathered a baby? You’ve got admitted that,” pressed Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia.  

“I’ll enable your phrases to talk for themselves,” Hegseth mentioned. 

The Washington Put up reported in November {that a} pal of Hegseth’s accuser despatched a memo to Trump transition officers detailing the accusations. Hegseth reached a settlement with the lady in 2020 to keep away from risking his job at Fox Information, his legal professional Tim Parlatore beforehand mentioned, describing his consumer as a sufferer of a “blackmail” effort.

“Realizing that it was the peak of the MeToo motion and any public accusation would lead to his rapid termination from Fox, Mr. Hegseth in the end determined to enter right into a settlement for a considerably lowered quantity,” Parlatore instructed shops, together with ABC Information. 

About 5 days after the alleged assault, an emergency room nurse contacted legislation enforcement after treating a girl who she mentioned might have been drugged and raped, in response to a 22-page batch of police paperwork that embody the emergency room nurse’s report, the lady’s testimony to officers and Hegseth’s model of the occasions.

The girl underwent a rape equipment examination and offered police with the garments she was carrying that evening. She instructed the nurse she “was unsure, however believes that one thing might have been slipped into her drink, as she can’t keep in mind many of the evening’s occasions,” the police report reveals. 

In his written responses to Warren, Hegseth mentioned that he and the lady didn’t enter right into a nondisclosure settlement and that they “signed a confidential settlement settlement for her nuisance claims.” 

Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, a fight veteran, was among the many critics who mentioned the allegations in opposition to Hegseth and his admitted infidelity made him susceptible to blackmail from international adversaries. 

“It might sow confusion as a result of our leaders within the navy wouldn’t know to what they might speak to the secretary of protection about,” she instructed MSNBC. 

“And by the best way, for our allies, I might be reluctant to share data with the US navy, our management, data that may maintain us protected and maintain our troops protected as a result of they didn’t know if  this man is compromised,” she mentioned.

On Thursday afternoon, the Senate voted to advance Hegseth’s nomination, with last affirmation set for Friday night. Two Republicans, Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, voted in opposition to shifting Hegseth’s nomination ahead. Each mentioned they’d issues with Hegseth’s lack of expertise for the position, and Murkowski particularly cited the assault allegations. There are 53 Republicans within the Senate, which means Hegseth can lose three Republicans if Vice President JD Vance votes to interrupt a tie. 

“Whereas the allegations of sexual assault and extreme ingesting do nothing to quiet my issues, the previous behaviors Mr. Hegseth has admitted to, together with infidelity on a number of events, reveal a scarcity of judgment that’s unbecoming of somebody who would lead our armed forces,” Murkowski mentioned.