Pete Hegseth advised Sen. Elizabeth Warren that he paid $50,000 to a lady who accused him of sexually assaulting her. He has mentioned he was falsely accused over the incident, which turned a spotlight of Democrats in his affirmation hearings.

President Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of protection revealed the quantity he paid in written responses to an in depth record of over 70 questions despatched to him upfront of his affirmation hearings by Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat on the Senate Armed Providers Committee, and obtained by The nineteenth. The Related Press first reported the settlement quantity. 

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

She reported the matter to police, however no costs have been ever filed towards Hegseth. He and his representatives have maintained that the encounter was consensual. On the time, Hegseth was nonetheless legally married to his second spouse and had lately welcomed a toddler with the girl who would turn into his third. 

“Once more, fully false costs towards me. They have been absolutely investigated and I used to be fully cleared,” he mentioned in his January 14 affirmation listening to. 

“However you acknowledge that you just cheated in your spouse and also you cheated on a lady by whom you had simply fathered a toddler? You might have admitted that,” pressed Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia.  

“I’ll permit your phrases to talk for themselves,” Hegseth mentioned. 

The Washington Publish reported in November {that a} good friend of Hegseth’s accuser despatched a memo to Trump transition officers detailing the accusations. Hegseth reached a settlement with the girl in 2020 to keep away from risking his job at Fox Information, his lawyer Tim Parlatore beforehand mentioned, describing his shopper as a sufferer of a “blackmail” effort.

“Figuring out that it was the peak of the MeToo motion and any public accusation would lead to his speedy termination from Fox, Mr. Hegseth finally determined to enter right into a settlement for a considerably lowered quantity,” Parlatore advised shops, together with ABC Information. 

About 5 days after the alleged assault, an emergency room nurse contacted regulation enforcement after treating a lady who she mentioned could have been drugged and raped, in accordance with a 22-page batch of police paperwork that embody the emergency room nurse’s report, the girl’s testimony to officers and Hegseth’s model of the occasions.

The lady underwent a rape equipment examination and offered police with the garments she was sporting that evening. She advised the nurse she “was unsure, however believes that one thing could have been slipped into her drink, as she can’t keep in mind a lot of the evening’s occasions,” the police report reveals. 

In his written responses to Warren, Hegseth mentioned that he and the girl didn’t enter right into a nondisclosure settlement and that they “signed a confidential settlement settlement for her nuisance claims.” 

Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, a fight veteran, was among the many critics who mentioned the allegations towards Hegseth and his admitted infidelity made him susceptible to blackmail from international adversaries. 

“It will sow confusion as a result of our leaders within the navy wouldn’t know to what they may speak to the secretary of protection about,” she advised MSNBC. 

“And by the way in which, for our allies, I might be reluctant to share info with the US navy, our management, info that will maintain us secure and maintain our troops secure as a result of they didn’t know if  this man is compromised,” she mentioned.

On Thursday afternoon, the Senate voted to advance Hegseth’s nomination, with closing affirmation set for Friday night. Two Republicans, Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, voted towards shifting Hegseth’s nomination ahead. Each mentioned that they had considerations with Hegseth’s lack of expertise for the position, and Murkowski particularly cited the assault allegations. There are 53 Republicans within the Senate, which means Hegseth can lose three Republicans if Vice President JD Vance votes to interrupt a tie. 

“Whereas the allegations of sexual assault and extreme ingesting do nothing to quiet my considerations, the previous behaviors Mr. Hegseth has admitted to, together with infidelity on a number of events, exhibit a scarcity of judgment that’s unbecoming of somebody who would lead our armed forces,” Murkowski mentioned.