California police release details of Pete Hegseth sexual assault report
A woman who claims she was sexually assaulted by President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Defense Department told police in 2017 she remembered Pete Hegseth preventing her from leaving a hotel room and that he was on top of her, according to newly released documents obtained by USA TODAY.
The woman recounted her hazy memories of the encounter but told police she said “no” a lot and that Hegseth swiped away her phone and blocked the door with his body, according to documents from the Monterey Police Department.
Monterey police leaders reversed a previous decision from last week to deny access to the 22-page police report. They released a redacted version to USA TODAY late Wednesday that names the victim only as Jane Doe. They said Hegseth himself requested the file in 2021 and that a quirk in the law allows the report to be made public.
Hegseth and his attorneys have denied the exchange was rape. Multiple outlets reported Hegseth paid a financial settlement as a result of the case. His attorney said earlier this week that “Mr. Hegseth is completely innocent."
The new document sheds light on the allegations made stemming from the incident in October 2017 at the Hyatt Hotel after a California Federation of Republican Women event where Hegseth spoke.
The then-30-year-old woman visited a sexual assault nurse examiner on Oct 12, four days after the incident, according to the police report.
She said she had been drinking champagne and believed something may have been slipped into her drink, according to the report. She also said she remembered being in a hotel room with Hegseth on top of her, but she told police she was unsure whether she was sexually assaulted.
“Doe remembers Hegseth preventing her from leaving and somehow ended up on top of her," the report says. She told investigators Hegseth threw a towel at her and asked her “are you ok?” and “clean it up.”
The report said that "Doe does not remember what happened after that other than she ended up back in her hotel room."
Police interviewed Hegseth on Oct. 26 about the incident. Hegseth told detectives he had been drinking beer but was not drunk. He confirmed taking the woman back to his hotel room for a consensual encounter.
“They both would stop and say ‘we shouldn’t do this’ but things consensually continued,” the report said and Hegseth confirmed he ejaculated on the woman’s stomach.
Police wrapped up their investigation that day and forwarded it for charging consideration at the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office. That office declined to charge Hegseth.
Nick Penzenstadler is a reporter on the USA TODAY investigations team. Contact him at [email protected] or @npenzenstadler, or on Signal at (720) 507-5273.This article was edited to add a photo gallery.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pete Hegseth sexual assault allegations detailed in police report