On the evening of October 12, 2017, a nurse at Kaiser Permanente called the Monterey Police Department to report that a patient had come in for a sexual exam.
The woman, a nurse told police, said she had been sexually assaulted four days earlier while at a Republican women’s conference at the Hyatt Regency Hotel and Spa in the coastal California resort town.
The alleged attacker – although his name will not be immediately released – was a popular Fox News host and keynote speaker at the conference.
The woman, identified only as Jane Doe in the police report, told nurses she wasn’t sure she wanted to get involved with authorities and didn’t want to release the man’s name. He had suffered from nightmares and bouts of sobbing after returning from the conference, but had little memory of the sexual encounter. He was afraid he had been drugged. The woman, who has not been publicly identified, could not be reached for comment by The Times.
The nurse referred the woman to the emergency room for a sexual assault forensic exam. But the nurse’s call – made as an assigned reporter – triggered a law enforcement investigation that included interviews with hotel staff, review of surveillance video, discussions with several female friends and conversations with the alleged perpetrator, Pete Hegseth, who assured the police. the meeting has reached a consensus.
No charges were filed. Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine M. Pacioni said no charges were supported by the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt. The two sides eventually reached a private settlement, after Doe signed a non-disclosure agreement.
That story seemed to be over — until Donald Trump picked Hegseth to be secretary of defense. Now that night in Monterey has taken center stage in what could be one of the most controversial confirmation fights of the year.
In recent times, the police report on the incident and other details provide a clearer picture of the allegations. But much remains unknown, including why local prosecutors decided not to file charges against Hegseth.
Shortly after the announcement of the President-elect, the woman’s friend write a memo to the Trump transition team said that Hegseth had raped a then-30-year-old conservative group staffer in a hotel room in the morning after a dinner party at the conference of the California Federation of Republican Women.
In response, Hegseth confirmed the financial settlement, speaking through a lawyer who has agreed to pay the woman to protect her job at Fox. But he categorically denied carrying out the attack. The woman, Hegseth’s attorney said in a statement, “was the aggressor to initiate the sexual activity.” Hegseth had “appeared intoxicated” at an after-party at a hotel bar, the lawyer said, and the woman had “raised her hand in the hotel room.”
“This matter was fully investigated, and I’ve been cleared, and that’s where I’ll leave it,” Hegseth told reporters at the Capitol on Thursday.
Revelations of the incident has caused a firestorm, both in Washington and among members of the California Federation of Republican Women.
Pete Hegseth
(Evan Vucci/Associated Press)
The Federation, which is a non-profit advocacy group, is an organization made up mostly of retirees. Its members gather for luncheons, conferences and fundraisers to hear Republican politicians speak on conservative issues.
Many in the group fear that beloved conservative Republican cabinet picks could be hurt by the allegations.
“This thing is bogus,” one of the organization’s officials shouted under oath, before hanging up on a Times reporter seeking comment.
This week, the Monterey Police Department released a redacted 22-page report detailing the investigation, including accounts of Doe and Hegseth’s memories, along with several other participants. Although police reports are not usually public in California, the documents have been released because Hegseth previously requested a copy.
The police report offers the most complete picture yet of what happened at the Monterey hotel on October 7th and 8th.
On the second day of the three-day gathering, Doe rested in a hotel room where he was staying with his wife and at least one of his children before a banquet dinner and keynote speech – the main event scheduled at the conference. – starting at 6 p.m., according to text messages and sources with knowledge of the event.
Forty-five minutes later he texted his wife. Talk to Hegseth.
“Our women are in awe of him,” he wrote. He posted a photo of Hegseth standing at a podium holding a microphone and gesturing with his hands as he spoke.
“They don’t look any more familiar,” he said. “But apparently all the women know who he is.”
He continued: “He’s wearing a ring on his index finger. It creeps me out. He’s sad because the show is taking so long.
After the party, the woman went to an after party in another federation member’s hotel room, where she drank champagne. Hegseth was also there. A member of the federation who was there told police that the woman “didn’t seem drunk, but there was a buzz” at the event.
Around midnight, Doe, Hegseth and another woman walked into Knuckles, the hotel’s sports bar. Inside the bar, which has since closed, televisions and football helmets line the walls. He texted his wife, saying he went to a bar with a group of women. “Om, I have a lot to say. This guy Pete is… toooool,” she wrote.
While drinking at the bar, Hegseth allegedly put his hand on another woman’s knee. She told police that she explained that it was “unacceptable,” but he still invited her into his room. He refused, according to the report.
Monterey’s Cannery Row
(Zen Rial/Getty Images)
The same woman tried to get Doe’s attention so she could act as a “crotch blocker” to prevent Hegseth’s sexual advances, according to the report.
Doe told police that his memory began to “blur” while he was at the bar.
Around 1:30 a.m., Doe argued with Hegseth near the hotel pool about his behavior with women at the conference. He responded that he was a “good guy,” according to the report. He later told investigators that Hegseth would rub women’s legs and that he thought his behavior was inappropriate.
An employee who had been working that night told investigators that a hotel guest had called the front desk to complain about two men causing a disturbance at the pool at about 1:30 a.m. him and said that he “has freedom of speech.” The woman intervened and said “she is a Republican and apologized for Hegseth’s actions,” the report said.
The staff said the woman was “standing on her own and very coherent,” while Hegseth was “highly intoxicated,” according to the report.
Doe put his hands and arms behind Hegseth’s back and escorted him into the building where his room was, the employee told police. Hegseth later told investigators that he did not remember being punished in the pool.
In the morning, Doe’s wife sent him a text message: “Holy smoker, I can’t remember the last time you socialized at almost 2:00” She replied, “Hahaha I know. I have to make sure” but the text message was sent before she finished and she stopped responding .
His wife wrote back: “Ok? my love? Worried about you.”
Around 2 a.m., the husband told investigators he looked for Doe at Knuckles Bar, but no one was there.
Doe then remembers being in a hotel room alone with Hegseth. He had a phone in his hand and Hegseth asked who he was texting before taking the phone, he told police. He tried to leave the room, according to the report, but Hegseth blocked the door. He remembers saying “no” a lot, he told police.
Pete Hegseth, President Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary, speaks to reporters
(Rod Lamkey/AP)
His next memory, he told police, is of sleeping on a bed or couch with Hegseth’s dog tag attached to his face. He said he ejaculated on her stomach, threw a towel at her and said “clean up” before asking her if she was OK, according to the report.
Hegseth remembers the situation differently in interviews with authorities.
She told police that Doe led her to a hotel room, where the incident happened between the two of them, according to the report. There was “constant” conversation and “always” consensual contact between him and Doe, he told police.
Hegseth recalled Doe displaying “early signs of remorse” after the incident and said she was going to tell her husband that she was sleeping on a couch in someone else’s room, according to the report.
Around 4 a.m., Doe returned to his hotel room and explained to his wife that he “had to go to bed.” She told police she didn’t remember what happened between her and Hegseth until she returned home the next day.
