Sexual assault allegations emerge against Trump defender

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Police detail a late-night drinking spree that was followed by an allegation of sexual assault

Nurse at Kaiser Permanente he called the Monterey police and filed a report that on an October afternoon in 2017, a patient presented for examination due to sexual assault.

The woman told police that she had been sexually assaulted four days earlier during a Republican conference at the Hyatt Regency Hotel and Spa in a California beach resort.

The alleged attacker was a popular Fox News host and keynote speaker at the conference.

The nurse referred the woman to the emergency room for a forensic examination of sexual assault. That conversation sparked a law enforcement investigation that included interviews with hotel staff, a review of surveillance footage, interviews with several of the woman’s co-workers and an interview with the alleged perpetrator, Pete Hegseth, who told police the encounter was consensual.

No charges were ever brought. Monterey County District. Atty. Jeannine M. Pacioni stated that none of the allegations were supported by evidence beyond a reasonable doubt. The two sides eventually reached a private settlement, after which the accuser signed a non-disclosure agreement.

The story seemed to end there – until Donald Trump nominated Hegseth as defense secretary. Now that night in Monterey has become the centerpiece of what could be one of the most contentious confirmation fights in years.

What do we know?

My colleagues Hannah Fry, Jessica Garrison AND Richard Winton she read a police report that provided a perspective on what happened that evening at the California Federation of Republican Women’s conference in Monterey.

Shortly after Hegseth’s appointment, the woman’s acquaintance wrote a note to Trump’s transition team, saying Hegseth raped a then-30-year-old conservative group employee in his hotel room in the early morning hours.

In response, Hegseth confirmed the financial settlement, saying through his lawyer that he had agreed to pay the woman to protect his job at Fox. However, he firmly denies committing the attack.

“The matter has been fully investigated and I have been fully explained and I will leave it at that,” Hegseth told reporters on Capitol Hill on Thursday.

Initial police findings indicate that an incident occurred

The Monterey Police Department released a redacted 22-page report detailing the investigation, including the recollections of the woman known as Jane Doe and Hegseth, as well as several other participants. Although police reports in California are not typically made public, the document was released because Hegseth had previously requested a copy.

The police report gives the fullest picture yet of what happened at the Monterey Hotel on October 7 and 8.

On the second day of the three-day meeting, text messages show, Doe took a break in her hotel room, where she was staying with her husband and at least one of her young children, before the banquet dinner and keynote speech began at 6 p.m. and sources with knowledge of the event.

After the banquet, the woman went to an after-party at the hotel suite of another member of the federation, where she drank a glass of champagne. Hegseth was there too. A federation member who was there later told police the woman “didn’t seem drunk but was excited” during the event.

Around midnight, Doe, Hegseth and the other woman walked toward Knuckles, the hotel’s sports bar. Doe texted her husband an update, saying she was going to a bar with a group of ladies. “Oh my God, I have so much to tell you. This Pete is… too much,” she wrote.

Doe told police that while she was at the bar, her memory began to blur.

At approximately 1:30 a.m., Doe argued with Hegseth near the hotel pool about his behavior toward women at the conference. The report said he was a “nice guy.” She later told investigators that Hegseth rubbed the women’s legs and she thought his behavior was inappropriate.

Doe placed her hands and arm on Hegseth’s back and led him to the building where his room was located, a hotel employee told police.

Around 2 a.m., Doe’s husband went to look for her at Knuckles, but no one was there, he told investigators.

Two different stories about the same event

(Note: The following description contains graphic details that may be disturbing to some.) Doe then remembered that he was alone in the hotel room with Hegseth. She had the phone in her hand and Hegseth asked her who she was texting before taking the phone, she told police. The report states that she tried to leave the room, but Hegseth blocked the door. She remembers saying “no” a lot, she told police.

She told police her next memory was of lying on a bed or couch with Hegseth’s dog tags hanging over her face. The report states that he ejaculated on her stomach, threw a towel at her and told her to “clean up” before asking if she was OK.

Hegseth remembers the situation differently.

The report states that he told police that Doe led him to his hotel room, where things continued to unfold between them. He told police that there were “always” conversations and “always” consensual contact between him and Doe.

Hegseth remembers Doe showing “early signs of regret” after the incident and saying she would tell her husband she had fallen asleep on the couch in someone else’s room, according to the report.

Around 4 a.m., Doe returned to her hotel room and explained to her husband that she “must have fallen asleep.” She told police that it wasn’t until the next day that she began to remember what happened between her and Hegseth.

For more information, check the whole storywhich will likely remain in the spotlight as Hegseth’s confirmation progresses.

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