The sexual assault case against Pete Hegseth, Trump’s defence secretary pick- The Week

President-elect Donald Trump’s defence secretary pick Pete Hegseth was accused of sexual assault in 2017 at a Republican women’s conference in California.

The police report, which was made public on Thursday, revealed that Hegseth sexually assaulted a woman, after he took her phone, blocked the door to a California hotel room and refused to let her leave.

The 22-page police report was released in response to a public records request and offers the first detailed account of what the woman alleged to have transpired one that is at odds with Hegseth’s version of events.

Though the report does not say that the police found the allegations were false, the case was forwarded to the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office for review.

It was a nurse, who alerted the investigators after the patient requested a sexual assault exam.

The patient told medical personnel that she believed she had been assaulted five days earlier but couldn’t remember much about what had happened. She also reported that something may have been slipped into her drink before ending up in the hotel room.

Police collected her dress and undergarments worn that night of the incident, the report said.

The woman’s partner, who was staying at the hotel with her, said that she did not come back to their room. He had gone to check for her at the hotel bar, but she wasn’t there. A few hours later, she returned apologising that she must have fallen asleep. It was after a few days that she told him, she was sexually assaulted.

The woman, who helped organise the California Federation of Republican women gathering at which Hegseth spoke, told police that she had witnessed the TV anchor acting inappropriately throughout the night and saw him stroking multiple women’s thighs. She texted a friend that Hegseth was giving off a creeper vibe, according to the report.

The report says that the woman and others attended an after-party after the event and she confronted Hegseth about the way he treated women.

A group of people, including Hegseth and the woman, decamped for the hotel’s bar.

She remembered having a drink at the bar with Hegseth and others, says the report. She also told police that she argued with Hegseth near the hotel pool, an account that is supported by a hotel staffer who was sent to handle the disturbance and spoke to police.

Soon, she told police, she was inside a hotel room with Hegseth, who took her phone and blocked the door with his body so that she could not leave, according to the report. She also told police she remembered saying ‘no’ a lot, the report said.

Her next memory was laying on a couch or bed with Hegseth hovering over her bare-chested, his dog tags dangling over her, the report states. Hegseth served in the National Guard, rising to the rank of major.

After Hegseth finished, she recalled him asking if she was OK, the report states. She told police she did not recall how she got back to her own hotel room and had since suffered from nightmares and memory loss.

At the time of the alleged assault, Hegseth was going through a divorce with his second wife. His first marriage ended in 2009.

Meanwhile, Hegseth’s version says that he attended an after-party and drank beer but did not consume liquor, and acknowledged being buzzed but not drunk.

He said he met the woman at the hotel bar, and she led him by the arm back to his hotel room, which surprised him because he initially had no intention of having sex with her, the report said.

Hegseth told investigators that the sexual encounter that followed was consensual, adding that he explicitly asked more than once if she was comfortable.

Hegseth’s attorney said a payment was made to the woman as part of a confidential settlement a few years after the police investigation because Hegseth was concerned that she was prepared to file a lawsuit that he feared could have resulted in him being fired from Fox News.