Hegseth said he settled sexual assault accusation for $50,000

Originally published by The 19th.

Pete Hegseth told Sen. Elizabeth Warren that he paid $50,000 to a woman who accused him of sexually assaulting her. He has said he was falsely accused over the incident, which became a focus of Democrats in his confirmation hearings.

President Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense revealed the amount he paid in written responses to a detailed list of over 70 questions sent to him in advance of his confirmation hearings by Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, and obtained by The 19th. The Associated Press first reported the settlement amount. 

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

She reported the matter to police, but no charges were ever filed against Hegseth. He and his representatives have maintained that the encounter was consensual. At the time, Hegseth was still legally married to his second wife and had recently welcomed a child with the woman who would become his third. 

“Again, completely false charges against me. They were fully investigated and I was completely cleared,” he said in his January 14 confirmation hearing. 

“But you acknowledge that you cheated on your wife and you cheated on a woman by whom you had just fathered a child? You have admitted that,” pressed Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia.  

“I will allow your words to speak for themselves,” Hegseth said. 

The Washington Post reported in November that a friend of Hegseth’s accuser sent a memo to Trump transition officials detailing the accusations. Hegseth reached a settlement with the woman in 2020 to avoid risking his job at Fox News, his attorney Tim Parlatore previously said, describing his client as a victim of a “blackmail” effort.

“Knowing that it was the height of the MeToo movement and any public accusation would result in his immediate termination from Fox, Mr. Hegseth ultimately decided to enter into a settlement for a significantly reduced amount," Parlatore told outlets, including ABC News. 

About five days after the alleged assault, an emergency room nurse contacted law enforcement after treating a woman who she said may have been drugged and raped, according to a 22-page batch of police documents that include the emergency room nurse’s report, the woman’s testimony to officers and Hegseth’s version of the events.

The woman underwent a rape kit exam and provided police with the clothes she was wearing that night. She told the nurse she “was not sure, but believes that something may have been slipped into her drink, as she cannot remember most of the night’s events,” the police report shows. 

In his written responses to Warren, Hegseth said that he and the woman did not enter into a nondisclosure agreement and that they “signed a confidential settlement agreement for her nuisance claims.” 

Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, a combat veteran, was among the critics who said the allegations against Hegseth and his admitted infidelity made him vulnerable to blackmail from foreign adversaries. 

“It would sow confusion because our leaders in the military would not know to what they could talk to the secretary of defense about,” she told MSNBC. 

“And by the way, for our allies, I would be reluctant to share information with the United States military, our leadership, information that would keep us safe and keep our troops safe because they didn’t know if  this man is compromised,” she said.

On Thursday afternoon, the Senate voted to advance Hegseth’s nomination, with final confirmation set for Friday evening. Two Republicans, Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, voted against moving Hegseth’s nomination forward. Both said they had concerns with Hegseth’s lack of experience for the role, and Murkowski specifically cited the assault allegations. There are 53 Republicans in the Senate, meaning Hegseth can lose three Republicans if Vice President JD Vance votes to break a tie. 

“While the allegations of sexual assault and excessive drinking do nothing to quiet my concerns, the past behaviors Mr. Hegseth has admitted to, including infidelity on multiple occasions, demonstrate a lack of judgment that is unbecoming of someone who would lead our armed forces,” Murkowski said.