Graphic details of how a woman accused Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s Pentagon nominee, of assaulting her have been revealed in a police report published hours before she met with the top senator.
The 22-page report contains graphic details of the allegations against Hegseth made by the woman after a one-night stay in a California hotel room in 2017 where she admitted having sex just two months after her lover gave birth to a child.
The alleged rape, as coded by police in the report, was first disclosed to Trump transition officials by a friend of the woman last week.
In the report, released under freedom of information laws, the woman told investigating officers she “remembers saying ‘no’ a lot” after Hegseth allegedly blocked the door and suspected something had been dropped in her drink that evening.
The next memory is of being in bed or on the couch with a shirtless Hegseth and a dog tag “floating over his face.” She told the officer she remembered him ejaculating on her stomach and saying “clean it up.”
Hegseth told police at the time that the encounter was consensual and denied wrongdoing. He was not charged.
Hegseth’s attorney previously said his client paid off the woman’s debt to avoid “baseless” lawsuits that would have ruined his career as a Fox News host.
The lawyer told Mediaite that the police report “confirmed what I said that the incident was fully investigated and the police found the allegations to be false, so no charges were filed.”
President Donald Trump’s transition team told the Associated Press that the report showed “the incident was fully investigated and no charges were filed because police found the allegations to be false.”
The police report – which shows interviews with the alleged victim, with the nurse who gave the sexual assault exam, a hotel employee, and another woman – shows two conflicting versions of events.
The woman said that from October 7 to October 8, 2017, she stayed at the Hyatt Hotel in Monterey for a meeting of the California Federation of Republican Women, which she helped organize. Hegseth spoke at the event.
After the event, attendees, including the women and Hegseth, went to an after-party in a hotel suite and then drank at the hotel’s attached bar.
The woman told police she saw Hegseth misbehaving during the event, swiping several women on their feet. According to the report, he said some women found Hegseth “dreamy” when he texted friends that he gave off a “creeper” vibe.
Two other women who spoke to police said Hegseth put his hand on her leg and asked her if she was going back to her room. One said he told her the contact was “not acceptable.” He called through Hegseth’s alleged victim to act as a “crotch blocker,” basically a third wheel in the conversation whose presence would break up his sexual advances.
The alleged victim told police she remembers confronting Hegseth because he “didn’t appreciate how he treated women.” Hegseth did not remember the exchange, but a hotel staff member told police he was called to deal with a loud disturbance between the two that happened after 1 a.m. near the hotel pool.
The staff said Hegseth, who they said appeared to be “highly intoxicated,” began cursing and insisted he had “freedom of speech.” The woman, he said, apologized and explained that she had attended a Republican event before escorting Hegseth.
The woman said she remembers the time after she was at the bar “disappearing,” which led her to believe “something had been dipped in the drink.”
He didn’t remember clearly how he got into the hotel room with Hegseth. Once there, she said, he grabbed her phone and blocked her from the door and she said “no” several times.
She remembers him being on top of her on the bed or the couch when her dog tags hung up. Hegseth served in the National Guard.
According to the report, after Hegseth “ejaculated on her stomach,” she said he “threw a towel at her and asked ‘are you okay?'”
The woman told investigators she did not remember how she got back to the hotel room.
His wife, who was staying with him, went to the hotel bar at 2 a.m., but did not find him. He returned to his room a few hours later, apologizing for falling asleep.
The next day, she told me she had been sexually assaulted.
Police first learned of the allegations when a nurse contacted them after the woman requested a sexual exam. Law enforcement collected unwashed clothing and underwear the night of the incident, according to the report.
Hegseth’s account tells a different story.
He told police he attended the party and drank enough beer to be “persuaded” but not drunk. He said he doesn’t drink hard alcohol.
Hegseth said he met a woman at a bar and she led him back to his hotel room. He told the police that he did not initially intend to have sex with her and that the incident was consensual.
Hegseth said he asked the woman twice if she was comfortable. When he asked if she had a condom, Hegseth said she told him she didn’t and said she could stop if there was a problem.
She said it wasn’t a problem, and Hegseth added “she doesn’t want to get anyone pregnant.” (At the time, Hegseth was in the process of divorcing his second wife after she had a child with her now-married Fox News producer husband).
Hegseth said that, after the meeting, the woman “showed early signs of remorse” and said she would tell her husband that she slept on the couch in someone else’s room.
He assures her that “she doesn’t have to worry about him saying anything.”
Hegseth was escorted to Capitol Hill Thursday by Vice President Elect JD Vance in an effort to secure Republican votes for confirmation.
