Protection choose Peter Hegseth paid accuser to guard his profession, his lawyer confirms : NPR

An legal professional for Pete Hegseth, the Fox Information host and President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for protection secretary, confirmed to NPR that Hegseth had paid a lady who accused him of sexual assault with a purpose to forestall her from submitting a lawsuit that would harm his profession.

Hegseth, 44, has denied the lady’s allegations. The incident came about in 2017.

The Washington Submit reported Saturday that Hegseth’s lawyer, Timothy Parlatore, mentioned in a press release that Hegseth had reached a settlement along with his accuser, which included paying her an unknown sum of money in change for her signing a nondisclosure settlement. This association was meant to cease her from submitting a lawsuit and to guard Hegseth’s place at Fox Information, the Post reported.

Parlatore instructed NPR on Monday that the data attributed to him within the Submit was correct. Based on the Submit article, a good friend of the lady had shared details about the incident in a memo despatched to the Trump transition staff final week. NPR has not independently confirmed the contents of the memo.

No fees have been filed, Trump staff says

“President Trump is nominating high-caliber and extremely qualified candidates to serve in his Administration,” Trump Communications Director Steven Cheung mentioned in a press release to NPR.

Hegseth’s nomination will go ahead, Cheung mentioned.

“Mr. Hegseth has vigorously denied any and all accusations, and no charges were filed,” he mentioned. “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.”

Trump has himself been convicted of falsifying enterprise information related to hush cash funds, to adult-film star Stormy Daniels, a case he claims is politically motivated.

What’s Hegseth accused of?

In 2017, Hegseth was named in an investigation by the Monterey Police Division regarding a reported sexual assault at a golf resort in California. Based on a press release from metropolis officers, Hegseth acknowledges having sexual activity with the lady however insists it was consensual.

The incident occurred within the early hours of Oct. 8 at 1 Previous Golf Course Street, which is the handle of Hyatt Regency Monterey Resort and Spa. Police say the lady reported an harm to her proper thigh. Their information launch doesn’t disclose the alleged sufferer’s identify or age; nonetheless, she was 30 on the time and labored for the California Federation of Republican Ladies, aiding with logistics whereas Hegseth spoke at their convention.

She was staying on the lodge together with her husband.

Hegseth’s relationship standing on the time was difficult: in 2017, his second spouse filed for a divorce “around the same time” he and his present spouse had a child, based on The Washington Examiner.

In his assertion to the Submit, Parlatore says that Hegseth had been ingesting on the lodge bar and was intoxicated when he went to his lodge room with the lady. Based on the Submit, the memo from the lady’s good friend mentioned that the lady took Hegseth to the room after being knowledgeable that he was being a nuisance to different ladies. Just a few days later, she contacted the police to report a sexual assault.

After the lady employed an legal professional a few years later to think about a lawsuit, each events reached an settlement. Parlatore famous in his assertion to the Submit that the MeToo motion was gaining momentum on the time, and he instructed CBS Information that Hegseth would have confronted “an immediate horror storm” had he been publicly accused of sexual assault, a quote that Parlatore confirmed to NPR.

The incident in Monterey occurred a few yr after Fox Information settled with former Fox & Buddies co-host Gretchen Carlson for $20 million over her sexual harassment claims in opposition to the community’s former chairman, Roger Ailes. Between early 2017 and 2020, the community skilled a number of high-profile departures linked to misconduct, together with hosts Invoice O’Reilly and Eric Bolling, Washington correspondent James Rosen and information host Ed Henry.

Hegseth is thought for his TV work, and loyalty to Trump

When Hegseth was nominated final week, his choice seemingly stunned a number of Republican lawmakers; as NPR reported, his identify was not on the identified shortlist of potential nominees. However it continued a sample of Trump’s putting loyalists and Fox Information personalities in distinguished positions.

Trump’s choice has put Hegseth, who lives in Tennessee along with his spouse and 7 kids, underneath intense scrutiny.

Distinguished Democrats and army specialists have raised questions that vary from the that means of his tattoos and political ethos as to if Hegseth is certified to supervise the nation’s largest employer. The Protection Division has “more than 2.1 million Military Service members and over 770 thousand civilian employees,” based on a 2020 fiscal report.

Hegseth is a Minnesota native who served as an officer within the Military Nationwide Guard, leaving service as a serious in 2021 after deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, based on his official biography. He earned a grasp’s diploma in public coverage from Harvard College in 2013.

These questioning Hegseth’s {qualifications} embody Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., the rating member of the Home Appropriations Subcommittee on Protection.

“I have great respect for anyone who has served our nation in the U.S. Armed Forces. However, not everyone who has worn the uniform is qualified to lead the Department of Defense,” McCollum mentioned in a press release, including that she is worried that Hegseth “is ill-prepared to serve as Secretary of Defense.”

Army has its personal sexual assault points

If confirmed, Hegseth would lead a U.S. army that has been attempting to cut back the alarming charges of sexual assaults from army academies to abroad deployments.

In a notable shift, the Protection Division applied a change earlier this yr that grants unbiased army legal professionals the authority to deal with sexual assault instances,
eradicating these issues from the chains of command of both the accused or the sufferer.

This transformation to the army justice system was backed by the present protection secretary Lloyd Austin.