Pete Hegseth had a consensual sexual encounter with a married woman who accused him of rape in an attempt to get money out of him, the Fox News host's lawyer said.
The woman's claims became known to President-elect Donald Trump's team after Trump nominated Hegseth, a decorated Army veteran and critic of the "woke" influence in the military, to lead the Pentagon.
A memo that was sent to Trump's team said the alleged victim had a "hazy memory" of being raped after meeting Hegseth at a hotel in California where he gave a talk in 2017, the Washington Post reported.
The police in Monterey, California have confirmed that they investigated the alleged incident at the time and brought no charges.
Hegseth's lawyer Timothy Parlatore suggested the alleged victim had fabricated the rape claim to cover up an affair. The woman was staying at the hotel with her husband and her children when she encountered Hegseth.
"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," Parlatore said.
The police investigated the incident "days later" and contemporaneous video evidence shows the woman was "the aggressor." According to Parlatore, Hegseth was "visibly intoxicated" as the woman led him by the arm to his hotel room.
“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.
While Hegseth maintains his innocence, his lawyer confirmed that he paid the woman an undisclosed amount in 2023 to avoid the publicity of a lawsuit that would likely have cost him his job at Fox.
Hegseth was initially warned the woman was threatening to sue two years after the alleged incident. His lawyers settled for "far, far less than what she wanted," Parlatore said, calling the transaction "essentially an extortion and blackmail."
“However, knowing that it was the height of the #MeToo movement and any public accusation would result in his immediate termination from Fox, Mr. Hegseth ultimately decided to enter into a settlement for a significantly reduced amount," Parlatore said.
Hegseth's nomination to be Defense Secretary has led to furious backlash from critics, who have called him unqualified to lead the world's largest military.
He has even been scrutinized over a tattoo evoking the Crusades, with critics painting him as a right-wing extremist.
Trump is standing by Hegseth, who is just one controversial Cabinet pick Trump has named to shake up D.C.
"Mr. Hegseth has vigorously denied any and all accusations, and no charges were filed. We look forward to his confirmation," Trump's communications director Steven Cheung said.
