President-elect Trump's choice for secretary of defense paid a woman who accused him of sexual assault, his lawyer said, but insists the 2017 encounter was consensual. Timothy Parlatore said that Pete Hegseth was "visibly intoxicated" at the time and that California investigators came to the conclusion the woman had been the aggressor, an assertion that police have not confirmed, the Washington Post reports. Police in Monterey did confirm that they investigated the woman's complaint and that no charges were filed.
Hegseth paid an unspecified amount of money to his accuser as part of a nondisclosure agreement because he feared being fired by Fox News, where he works as a host, if the matter became public, Parlatore's statement said. Hegseth and his lawyer said they've given that account to Trump aides, per Axios. Trump's team learned about the accusation last week from a friend of the woman who wrote a memo differing from Hegseth's account. The friend wrote that the nominee raped the woman in his hotel room, which he denies.
The Monterey County district attorney at the time, Dean Flippo, told the Post on Saturday that he didn't recall the accusations. Trump transition officials are discussing the situation, but the president-elect hasn't budged from his intention to nominate Hegseth, per the New York Times. A spokesman stood by the nomination after the accusation was made public. (Hegseth's past statements that women should not serve in combat have drawn notice.)
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