President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for Secretary of Defense pete hegseth She says she was blackmailed during the #MeToo movement and that she paid her accuser to remain silent, her attorney Timothy Parlatore told The Post.
Hegseth, who worked as a Fox News host until Trump selected him for his Cabinet, paid an undisclosed amount to a woman who accused him of sexual harassment, which she says It was made consensually, his lawyer confirmed.
“Basically, he was completely innocent. He didn’t do anything wrong here,” Parlatore said. “We went through mediation and ultimately settled for much less than what she wanted. And it should have been buried completely.”
Last week, the Trump transition team received a memo from a friend of the accuser detailing allegations against Trump’s surprise selection to lead the Defense Department. The Washington Post reported,
The alleged incident occurred on October 7, 2017, in Monterey, California, and involved an unnamed employee of a conservative group who attacked Hegseth, now 44, in her hotel room after a drunken night at the bar. Was accused of raping her. She was 30 years old at that time.
Hegseth was staying at the Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel and Spa at the time after speaking at the California Federation of Republican Women conference.
Parlatore, who declined to disclose the amount paid or the identity of the woman, claimed that she was sober and followed Hegseth.
“He had drank too much alcohol, and according to video surveillance and eyewitness testimony, this woman who was sober took advantage of him and was the aggressor,” he said.
“She took his hand and led him to his room.”
But according to the Washington Post, memos of the incident sent to the transition team, which The Post did not independently obtain, allege that she was responsible for ensuring that Hegseth was in her room and at the airport the next day. But come back.
She was staying in the hotel with her children and husband at that time. According to the memo, after receiving messages from two women at the bar who claimed “Hegseth was pressuring them about his interest in taking her upstairs to his room,” she decided to intervene.
According to the memo, “The accuser had a vague memory of being raped the night before and suffered a panic attack.”
A friend of the accuser said she had seen him at events over the past 15 years, but “never knew him to be irresponsible, drunk or of questionable character.”
Parlatore alleged that the accuser was simply trying to save face with her husband.
“She woke up to her husband sending a bunch of messages saying, ‘Why didn’t you come back to our room?’ Later, he had to come back and lie,” he said, citing a police report, which is not publicly available.
A few days after the encounter, the accused subsequently filed a complaint with the police, who investigated the situation and ultimately, the local district attorney declined to pursue charges.
Two years later, in 2020, the accuser threatened to sue Hegseth in court, which resulted in the woman paying him in exchange for signing a non-disclosure agreement.
“If she comes out and starts repeating these false claims, or if it derails the confirmation in any way, then, yes, we’ll probably file a lot against her for defamation and civil and extortion.” Will file a major lawsuit,” Parlatore said.
Hegseth, an Army veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, is seen as an unconventional choice to take over the Pentagon post given his lack of experience managing a large organization.
Trump, 78, chose Hegseth, who has degrees from Princeton and Harvard, with the intention of dramatically shaking up the Pentagon and eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion practices from the US armed forces.
The President-elect is still standing firm with his DoD nominee amid allegations surprised his transformation team,
“President Trump is nominating high-caliber and extremely qualified candidates to serve in his administration,” Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung said in a statement.
“Mr. Hegseth vehemently denies any and all allegations, and no charges were filed. We look forward to his confirmation as United States Secretary of Defense so he can keep America safe again.” And to make it great, we can start from day one.
The Post was unable to identify the accuser to access her version of the incident.
