The Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel and Spa hosted a conference and after party for members of the California Federation of Republican Women in 2017. A woman who worked for the organization alleged that Pete Hegseth, the keynote speaker, sexually assaulted her.
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The woman who accused then-Fox News host Pete Hegseth of sexual assault in 2017 said that while she did not have a complete recollection of the night in question, she “remembered saying ‘no’ a lot” and alleged that he prevented her from leaving his hotel room, according to a police report from the Monterey, Calif., police department.
The report, which was released to NPR and other outlets after a public records request, provides additional details about the incident involving the woman and Hegseth, who was named last week as President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for Secretary of Defense.
On Thursday, Karoline Leavitt, Trump-Vance transition spokeswoman said in statement: “This report corroborates what Mr. Hegseth’s attorneys have said all along: the incident was fully investigated, and no charges were filed because police found the allegations to be false. Pete Hegseth is a highly-respected Combat Veteran who will honorably serve our country when he is confirmed as the next Secretary of Defense, just like he honorably served our country on the battlefield in uniform.”
The allegation against Hegseth came into public view just days after President-elect Donald Trump announced him as his nominee for Secretary of Defense, adding to scrutiny of the longtime TV personality’s qualifications to lead the Department of Defense.
Hegseth, 44, stopped working at Fox News last week after his nomination was announced. His attorney, Timothy Parlatore, said that while Hegseth denies the allegations by his accuser, he settled with her several years ago, to prevent her from filing a lawsuit that could damage his television career.
“This police report confirms what I have said all along,” Parlatore told NPR via email, “that the incident was fully investigated and police found the allegations to be false, which is why no charges were filed.”
Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine M. Pacioni said in a statement to NPR that her office declined to pursue the case in early 2018, after determining that “No charges were supported by proof beyond a reasonable doubt.”
What do the two sides say?
The woman is identified only as Jane Doe in the police document. She told an investigator that late one night, while in Hegseth’s room at a hotel that was hosting a Republican women’s conference, he took her cellphone and “blocked the door with his body,” according to the report.
She also said they then had a sexual encounter, and in the ensuing days as other events triggered memories, she “went to the hospital because she believed she was sexually assaulted by [Hegseth],” an officer wrote in the report.
The incidents described in the police report occurred over several hours, from Saturday evening, Oct. 7, into the early hours of Sunday, Oct. 8. When police contacted Hegseth later that month, his version of events differed from Doe’s; as he told an investigator that he and Doe had had sex — but that it was consensual.
Both Hegseth and Doe say they had been drinking alcohol that night, as they and others moved from a banquet and speech to an afterparty and then late-night drinks at the bar at the Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel and Spa.
The resort was hosting a conference and party for the California Federation of Republican Women. Doe, a staffer for the organization, was staying at the hotel with her husband.
Why is the report coming out now?
City Attorney Christine Davi says her office determined that it could release the redacted police report because Hegseth had been given a copy of the same document in March of 2021 — rendering it no longer exempt from release under the state’s public records laws.
Other records, including a separate police report from another agency; a Kaiser Permanente report; an audio recording; surveillance footage; a photograph; and a memo from the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office remain confidential, Davi says.
What about accounts from witnesses and video?
Witnesses describe roughly the same general arc of movement, as Hegseth, Doe and others moved from the hotel’s conference center and ballroom to an after party spanning several suites. Later, Doe and Hegseth were part of a smaller group that went to the hotel’s bar, called Knuckles Sports Bar.
Witnesses and hotel records stated that Hegseth and Doe had a loud argument along the pool deck around 1:30 a.m. — prompting an employee to ask them to be quiet.
Hegseth responded by cursing at the employee and saying “he had freedom of speech,” according to the police report. Doe then intervened, telling the employee “that they were Republicans and apologized” for Hegseth’s behavior.
The employee said Hegseth and Doe left soon afterward. They ended up in Building 5, room 528 — Hegseth’s room.
Text messages submitted along with a police report show conversations about Pete Hegseth, who spoke at a conference held by Republican women in Monterey, Calif.
Monterey City Attorney’s Offce / Screenshot by NPR
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Monterey City Attorney’s Offce / Screenshot by NPR
What did Jane Doe tell police?
In text messages Doe shared with police, she mentioned meeting Hegseth at the conference, including a message saying, “our ladies are freaking drooling over him.”
Some of Doe’s texts were in conversations with her husband. Some of them indicated that she was not impressed with Hegseth, noting, “He wears a ring on his pointer finger. It creeps me out.”
Later in the evening, Doe told investigators, she saw Hegseth “acting inappropriately,” rubbing women’s legs, and “giving off a ‘creeper’ vibe,” according to the report.
In her statements to police, Doe described how memories of that night came back to her. Of the visit to Knuckles bar, she said, “that’s when things got fuzzy.”
She told police that she recalled arguing with Hegseth near the pool, saying it was about how he was treating women at the conference. Doe remembered Hegseth telling her “that he was a nice guy,” according to the report.
“[Doe] stated the next memory she had was when she was in an unknown room,” according to the police report. “[Doe] did not know where she was and how she got to the room. [Hegseth] was in the room with her.”
The report states that the woman said Hegseth asked who she was texting with and took her phone. Doe told police that she then tried to leave the room, but Hegseth blocked the door.
“[Doe] remembered saying “no” a lot. [Doe] stated she did not remember much else. [Doe’s] next memory was when she was on a bed or a couch and [Hegseth] was over her. [Hegseth’s] dog tags were hovering over her face.”
What did Hegseth tell police?
Hegseth told police that he delivered the keynote speech at the conference. Later, he said, he went upstairs to the after-party where he drank beer. He said that he and others then went to the hotel bar. Police say that the hotel’s surveillance footage shows him, Doe and another woman walking to the bar, in a video time-stamped close to midnight.
Hegseth said that no one at the bar was “blacked out drunk,” and that while he was “buzzed,” he wasn’t intoxicated, according to the report.
Hegseth told police he didn’t remember having an argument at the pool. He said he was confused that Doe went back to his hotel room with him, because they had not talked as much as he did with others. Hegseth maintained that any physical interaction between them was consensual. Afterward, he said, Doe told him she would tell her husband that she had fallen asleep on a couch in someone else’s room.
Before Doe left his room, Hegseth said, he told her he would stay quiet about what had happened — but he added that she “showed early signs of regret.” He did not specify what those signs were.
How did the police get involved?
Police were alerted when a Kaiser Permanente nurse called them on Oct. 12, 2017, reporting that a woman had come in requesting a sexual assault exam. The patient wanted to remain anonymous — known as Jane Doe — and she initially did not tell police Hegseth’s name either, according to the report.
The nurse said the patient was referred to an emergency room for an examination.
The 22-page police report includes input from at least three officers, beginning with the officer who handled the initial call to an investigator who followed up and spoke with Doe, other women who were with her that night; hotel employees; and Hegseth himself.
The report concludes with a recommendation to forward the case to the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office for review. It lists the potential criminal offense as “Rape: victim unconscious of the nature of the act” — citing California penal code section 261(a) (4). Under state law, rape is classified as a felony punishable by three to eight years in prison.
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