Fox News host Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to become Secretary of Defensepaid a confidential financial settlement to a woman who accused him of sexual abuse out of concern that the accusation would lead to his dismissal from the cable news giant, his attorney told CBS News.
Hegseth’s attorney, Timothy Palatore, said the Army veteran has reached a confidential settlement to prevent his accuser from filing a lawsuit, insisting he is innocent and that the sexual encounter was consensual. Hegseth denies any wrongdoing.
‘The reality is that they had applied [a lawsuit]The civil lawsuit takes a long time, and so Fox News probably would have fired him based on the allegation,” Palatore said, adding that the woman and her attorney “knew that simply filing it would create an immediate horror storm for [Hegseth].”
Fox News did not respond to a question about when the network learned about Hegseth’s plea deal.
Trump’s transition team spoke with Palatore after Hegseth was named as Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, the lawyer said. He said he had “fully explained this to them” but that he did not know what previous conversations Hegseth had with the transition team, or whether they had been made aware of the sexual assault allegation and plea agreement before announcing his impending nomination for defense. secretary.
“This should have nothing to do with the confirmation process,” he said.
John Lamparski/Getty Images
Trump has indicated that these revelations did not prevent him from choosing Hegseth as secretary of defense. After reports emerged of the sexual assault allegation, Trump’s communications director Steven Cheung said: “President Trump is nominating highly qualified and extremely qualified candidates to serve in his administration. Mr Hegseth has strongly denied all allegations and no charges have been filed. .”
The alleged assault occurred after midnight on October 8, 2017 at the Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel and Spa. The woman, whose identity was kept confidential, filed a complaint with Monterey police four days later, alleging she had been sexually assaulted by Hegseth. The city of Monterey confirmed the 2017 investigation into Hegseth, saying in a statement that investigators found the woman had “contusions” on her right thigh. No charges have been filed, Palatore said.
The Washington Post, which first reported the financial payment, obtained an alleged memo sent by a friend of the accuser to the Trump transition team alleging that Hegseth raped an associate of the conservative group in his room after drinking at the hotel bar. According to the Post, the memo states that the day after the incident, the accuser “had a moment of vague memory of the rape the night before and had a panic attack.”
CBS News has not seen the memo and cannot verify its contents.
Palatore told CBS News that there is eyewitness testimony and video surveillance footage that would show the accuser was the “aggressor” in a consensual sexual encounter. “[Hegseth] was drunk. She was sober. She was the one who grabbed him by the arm and led him out of the bar to take him upstairs,” he said.
When asked if CBS News could view the footage, Palatore said, “No.” He also refused to reveal the names of any eyewitnesses.
CNN reported last week that it had spoken to the alleged victim, who “became visibly distraught at the mention of Hegseth’s name.” CNN says she declined to be interviewed at the time and did not respond afterward.
Palatore would not share the exact timing of the settlement payment to the woman. He said it took place “a few years ago,” emphasizing that it was “long before Trump was even nominated.” [for the presidency]let alone that he had appointed Pete to this position.”
He also declined to reveal the amount of the settlement, saying only that it was “much, much less than what she wanted.” He characterized it as “essentially an extortion and blackmail.”
Two years after the alleged incident, Palatore said Hegseth was informed that the woman was making so-called “false claims” against him and threatened to sue him. Palatore said she had lost her job and claimed she needed money. In February 2020, he sent her a cease and desist order. She remained silent for a year before he learned that she had found a lawyer for her case.
Trump’s choice of Hegseth has been plagued by controversy. The announcement that the Fox News personality was his choice for defense secretary surprised many in Washington. “Wow,” Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska responded when he learned he had been chosen to lead the Defense Department. “I just said, wow,” she repeated when asked for her opinion.
Even Hegseth’s tattoos have attracted attentionspecifically the “Deux Vult” tattoo on his inner bicep. The symbolism of that tattoo, which has been linked to extremist groups and the Christian Crusaders, alarmed a member of Hegseth’s National Guard unit, who warned superiors that Hegseth was a potential “insider threat” before President Joe Biden’s inauguration. He was removed from monitoring the inauguration.
After The Associated Press reported that Hegseth had been labeled a threat, newly elected Vice President J.D. Vance defended him on social media, accusing the outlet of “attacking Pete Hegseth for having a Christian motto tattooed on his arm.” . Hegseth then shared Vance’s tweet, saying, “They can target me – I don’t care – but these types of attacks on Christians, conservatives, patriots and everyday Americans will stop at DJT’s DoD on DAY ONE.”
News of Hegseth’s financial settlement agreement with a confidentiality clause may sound familiar to Trump. The president-elect’s own troubles over a non-disclosure agreement with adult film star Stormy Daniels led to the New York trial in which he became a convicted felon, as well as the first former (and now future) president to face criminal charges.
Trump was found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records relating to an alleged cover-up of the payment to Daniels. He has argued that the verdict should be set aside and the charges dismissed based on the Supreme Court’s ruling, among other things. ruling on presidential immunity.
James LaPorta, Eleanor Watson,
and Nicole Sganga contributed to this report.
