Trump defense secretary pick Pete Hegseth denies sexual assault allegation, acknowledges payment to accuser

Former Fox News host Pete Hegseth’s attorney on Sunday confirmed to NBC News that Hegseth, whom President-elect Donald Trump has named as his candidate for defense secretary, paid a woman an undisclosed amount after she accused him of sexual assault.

“In 2023, Hegseth paid the complainant as part of a civil confidential settlement agreement and maintains his innocence,” Timothy Parlatore, Hegseth’s attorney, said in a statement.

He also denied that the encounter between Hegseth and an unnamed woman, which she alleges happened in 2017, was sexual assault.

Parlatore’s statement comes after The Washington Post on Saturday reported that a friend of Hegseth’s accuser sent a memo to the Trump transition team detailing the allegations.

NBC News has not independently reviewed the memo, but Parlatore confirmed that it is related to an encounter Hegseth and the unnamed woman had in Monterey, California, during a conference of the California Federation of Republican Women.

The Post reported that the memo said the woman was at the conference with her husband and her children and “didn’t remember anything until she was in Hegseth’s hotel room and then stumbling to find her hotel room” on the night in question.

Parlatore denied the allegation, saying, “This is a situation where a consensual encounter occurred and, unfortunately, the woman had to come up with a lie to explain why the woman had not come back to her husband’s room that night.”

“It wasn’t reported until days later until there was pressure from her husband. It was fully investigated by police and video surveillance as well as multiple eyewitness statements show that she was the aggressor,” he added.

Authorities in Monterey investigated the allegation in 2017 and did not file charges against Hegseth.

Parlatore also called his client “completely innocent” and accused the woman of “trying to squeeze Mr. Hegseth for money.”

Before Hegseth officially becomes defense secretary, he’ll have to win over a majority of the Senate in a confirmation vote.

On Sunday, Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that “I think he’s a good pick.”

Still, he added that the Senate would have to deliberate and review Hegseth’s record ahead of a vote.

“But once again, as allegations come out, we’ll figure out if, as the Senate moves forward with the advice and consent to the president of the United States and doing our constitutional duties, we’ll figure out if he can get confirmed or not. And I do think that Pete’s a good pick for this position,” Mullin said.