Trump’s pick to lead Department of Defense was investigated for alleged sexual assault
President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Defense, Fox News personality Pete Hegseth, was investigated for an alleged sexual assault in the city of Monterey in 2017, according to a statement the city released Thursday in response to media inquiries.
The city’s statement discloses that it had one police report connected to an investigation from October of that year regarding an alleged sexual assault at an address on Old Golf Course Road.
According to the statement, the alleged incident occurred between midnight and 7 a.m. on Oct. 8 and was reported four days later, on the afternoon of Oct. 12.
The report did not include the name of Hegseth’s accuser, and the statement did not disclose the results of the police investigation, which Monterey said was exempt from California’s public records laws.
The statement went on to say that no weapons were alleged to be involved, but the victim reported a contusion to their right thigh.
The city provided no other information about the investigation.
Vanity Fair was the first to report the allegation.
Trump’s communications officer, Steven Cheung, told the magazine: “Mr. Hegseth has vigorously denied any and all accusations, and no charges were filed.”
Timothy Parlatore, Hegseth’s lawyer, added to Vanity Fair: “This allegation was already investigated by the Monterey police department and they found no evidence for it.”
Hegseth, 44, was a co-host of the channel’s morning program “Fox & Friends” weekend edition since 2017. An Army National Guard officer, he joined the network as a contributor in 2014.
Hegseth is a graduate of Princeton University, and has a graduate degree from Harvard University. For his military service, he was decorated with two Bronze Stars, as well as a Combat Infantryman Badge.
Hegseth is a bestselling author for Fox News Books, the network’s publishing imprint.
“His insights and analysis especially about the military resonated deeply with our viewers and made the program the major success that it is today,” Fox News said in a statement. “We are extremely proud of his work at Fox News and wish him the best of luck in Washington.”
Staff writer Stephen Battaglio contributed to this report.
