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Police report reveals assault allegations against Hegseth, Trump’s Defense Secretary pick
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Police report reveals assault allegations against Hegseth, Trump’s Defense Secretary pick

A woman told police she was sexually assaulted in 2017 by Pete Hegseth after he took her phone, locked the door to a California hotel room and refused to let her leave, according to a detailed investigative report released Wednesday evening.

Hegseth, a former Fox News personality and President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be defense secretary, told police at the time that the meeting was consensual and denied any wrongdoing, the report said.

News of the allegations broke last week when local officials released a brief statement confirming that a woman accused Hegseth of sexual assault in October 2017 after he spoke at a Monterey Republican Women’s event.

“The matter has been fully investigated and I have been given the all clear,” Hegseth told reporters Thursday at the U.S. Capitol, where he was meeting with senators to drum up support for his nomination.

Donald Trump, right, is interviewed by Hegseth at the White House in Washington during his presidency in 2017. Photo: Reuters
Donald Trump, right, is interviewed by Hegseth at the White House in Washington during his presidency in 2017. Photo: Reuters

The report does not say that police found the allegations to be false. Police recommended that the case report be forwarded to the Monterey County Prosecutor’s Office for review.