Pete Hegseth, Trump's Defense Secretary Nominee, Was Involved in a 2017 Alleged Sexual Assault Investigation

Mar. 15, 2025

Pete Hegseth in 2019.Photo:John Lamparski/Getty

John Lamparski/Getty

Donald Trump’sSecretary of Defense nominee, Pete Hegseth, was investigated for a sexual assault allegation in 2017, officials confirmed.

On Thursday, Nov. 14, the city of Monterey, Calif. confirmed in apress releasethat the Fox News host, 44, was named in an investigation in October 2017 that involved an alleged sexual assault at the city’s Hyatt Regency Hotel.The Associated Pressreported that Hegseth had addressed the California Federation of Republican Women for its biennial convention around the date of the incident.

Vanity Fairwas the first to report the news.

While Monterey police did not release the full police report for the case, the city included several details about the incident in its press release. The person who reported the sexual assault said it took place between 11:59 p.m. on Oct. 7 and 7 a.m. the following morning. The alleged victim sustained bruises on their right thigh, and police said that no weapons were involved.

Albin Lohr-Jones/Pool via Bloomberg/Getty

City officials said they would not share further details from the police report because it included analysis from law enforcement officials that are exempt from release under California’s public records laws.

“An allegation was made and was fully investigated and he was cleared. This should have no effect whatsoever on the nomination process,” Timothy Parlatore, an attorney for Hegseth, told the AP andNew York Times.

Vanity Fairreported that the allegation is “serious enough” that Trump’s incoming chief of staff Susie Wiles and several of his lawyers spoke to Hegseth about it on Thursday. A source told the outlet that Hegseth claimed that the allegation came from a consensual encounter.

Trump, 78, nominated Hegseth, a Army National Guard veteran, Bronze Star recipient andFox & Friendshost, on Wednesday, Nov. 13.

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

“Pete has been a host at Fox News for eight years, where he used that platform to fight for our military and veterans,” Trump said in a statement at the time, before touting that Hegseth had a bestselling book which he says “reveals the leftwing betrayals of our Warriors, and how we must return our military to meritocracy, lethality, accountability and excellence.”

Steven Cheung, a spokesman for the Trump transition, said in a statement toVanity Fairthat the president-elect is “nominating high-caliber and extremely qualified candidates to serve in his administration” and denied all the allegations made in the 2017 police report.

“Mr. Hegseth has vigorously denied any and all accusations, and no charges were filed. We look forward to his confirmation as United States Secretary of Defense so he can get started on day one to make America safe and great again,” Cheung said.

According toCNN, Hegseth has previously taken stances against what he calls “woke” military policies, arguing that the military has become to politicized, and also garnered criticism when he said during an interview that “women shouldn’t be in combat at all.”

source: people.com