Pat Hegseth revealed before the Senate Armed Services Committee that he paid $50,000 to a woman who had accused him of sexual assault.
Donald Trump’s nominee to head the Department of Defense shared details of his settlement with the unnamed accuser in a letter that CNN. A police report released earlier this year detailed the 2017 allegations. The then 30-year-old woman was a staffer for a Republican group in California. Hegseth’s accuser said she met the former Fox News host when he was a keynote speaker at the Republican Women’s Conference. The woman, who asked not to be named, said her memory was “fuzzy” after drinking but she “remembered saying ‘no’ a lot.” While Hegseth admitted to having sex with the unidentified woman but maintained that their encounter was consensual, Monterey police ultimately did not file charges against the Trump nominee.
Hegseth’s settlement with his accuser has been public knowledge since November when it was revealed by The Washington Post. Hegseth’s attorney told the outlet that his client had reached an agreement with the woman to avoid potential “blackmail.”
Attorney Timothy Parlatore said at the time that “Hegsut felt strongly that he was the victim of blackmail and innocent collateral damage in the lies that the complainant had been perpetuating in order to preserve her marriage.”
After the settlement amount was revealed, Parlator took the same stance with CNN, saying the lawsuit was based on “false claims” and that the settlement had been settled for the sake of time.
“As we said from the beginning, these were false claims that we settled for a nuisance value, much less what it would cost to defend,” Parlatore told CNN.
Hegseth’s alleged sexual misconduct and payments constitute some of the more serious charges against him, although critics of the Senate have pointed to several other shortcomings. Hegseth’s mother wrote in a 2018 email that he abused “several” women “in some way”. He later denied his claims on Fox News. Hegseth’s ex-sister-in-law alleged that the Army doctor abused his ex-wife to the extent that she feared for her safety.
Hegseth’s former co-workers at a veterans advocacy organization say he was constantly drunk and fostered a hostile work environment, allegations that GOP senators Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins opposed his confirmation. It was indicated in the statements while announcing.
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About Pat Hegseth
