The Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel and Spa hosted a conference and after party for members of the California Federation of Republican Women in 2017. A woman who worked for the organization alleged that Pete Hegseth, the keynote speaker, sexually assaulted her.
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The woman who accused Fox News host Pete Hegseth of sexual assault in 2017 said that while she has no recollection of that night, she “remembers saying ‘no’ a lot” and says he stopped her from leaving. His hotel room, according to a police report from the Monterey, California, police department.
The report, which was released to NPR and other outlets after a public records request, provides additional details about what happened to the woman and Hegseth, who was named last week as President Donald Trump’s pick for Secretary of Defense.
On Thursday, Karoline Leavitt, spokeswoman for the Trump-Vance transition, said in a statement: “This report supports what Mr. Hegseth’s lawyers have said all along: this incident was fully investigated, and no charges were filed because the police found the allegations to be false. Pete Hegseth is a respected Combat Veteran who will serve our country with honor when confirmed as the next Secretary of Defense, just as he served our country with honor on the battlefield in uniform.”
The allegations against Hegseth became public days after President-elect Donald Trump announced him as his nominee for Secretary of Defense, adding to scrutiny of the longtime TV personality’s qualifications to lead the Defense Department.
Hegseth, 44, quit his job at Fox News last week after the nominations were announced. His lawyer, Timothy Parlatore, said Hegseth denied the accusations by the accuser, he had settled several years ago, to prevent him from filing a lawsuit that could damage his television career.
“This police report confirms what I said,” Parlatore told NPR via email, “that if the incident was fully investigated and the police found the allegations to be false, no charges would be filed.”
Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine M. Pacioni said in a statement to NPR that her office declined to pursue the case in early 2018, after determining that “There are no charges supported by evidence beyond a reasonable doubt.”
What did they both say?
The woman was identified only as Jane Doe in police documents. She told investigators​​​​ that one night, while in Hegseth’s room at a hotel hosting a Republican women’s conference, she grabbed her cell phone and “blocked the door with her body,” according to the report.
She also said she then had sexual intercourse, and in the days that followed as other events triggered her memories, she “went to the hospital because she believed she was sexually assaulted by (Hegseth),” officials wrote in the report.
The incident described in the police report happened over a few hours, from Friday evening, October 7, to the early hours of Sunday, October 8. When the police contacted Hegseth later a month, his version of events differed from Doe; when he told investigators that he and Doe had sex — but that it was consensual.
Both Hegseth and Doe said they drank alcohol that night, as they and others moved from party and speech to party and then drank at the bar at the Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel and Spa.
The resort hosts conferences and banquets for the California Federation of Republican Women. Doe, a staff member of the organization, was staying at the hotel with her husband.
Why is the report out now?
City Attorney Christine Davi said her office determined it could release the redacted police report because Hegseth had been given a copy of the same document in March 2021 — so it was no longer released under the state’s public records law.
Other records, including separate police reports from other agencies; Kaiser Permanente reports; audio recordings; surveillance footage; photos; and memos from the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office remain confidential, Davi said.
What about eyewitness accounts and videos?
Witnesses described roughly the same general movement, as Hegseth, Doe and others moved from the hotel’s conference center and ballroom to a party after several suites. Later, Doe and Hegseth are part of a small group that goes to a hotel bar, called Knuckles Sports Bar.
Witnesses and hotel records say Hegseth and Doe had a loud argument on the pool deck around 1:30 a.m. — prompting an employee to ask them to be quiet.
Hegseth responded by cursing at the employee and saying “he has freedom of speech,” according to the police report. Doe then intervened, telling the employee “that he was a Republican and apologized” for Hegseth’s actions.
The employee said Hegseth and Doe left afterward. He ended up in Building 5, room 528 – Hegseth’s room.
A text message sent along with the police report shows a conversation about Pete Hegseth, who spoke at a conference held by Republican women in Monterey, California.
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Did Jane Doe tell the police?
In text messages Doe shared with police, he said convene Hegseth at the conference, including a message that said, “our women are in awe of him.”
Some of Doe’s texts are in conversations with her husband. Some people indicated that they were not impressed with Hegseth, noting, “He wears a ring on his index finger. It creeps me out.”
Later that evening, Doe told investigators, he saw Hegseth “acting inappropriately,” rubbing a woman’s leg, and “giving off a ‘creeper’ vibe,” according to the report.
In a statement to police, Doe described his memories of that night. Of his visit to Knuckles’ bar, he said, “That’s when it got blurry.”
She told police she remembers arguing with Hegseth by the pool, talking about how he treated women at the conference. Doe recalled Hegseth telling her “that he was a good person,” according to the report.
“(Doe) stated the next memory was that he was in an unknown room,” according to the police report. “(Doe) didn’t know where he was or how he got to the room. (Hegseth) was in the room with him.”
The report states that the woman said Hegseth asked who she was texting and took the phone. Doe told police he then tried to leave the room, but Hegseth blocked the door.
“(Doe) remembers saying “no” a lot. (Doe) stated that he doesn’t remember much else. (Doe)’s next memories are of him being on the bed or the couch and (Hegseth) surrounding him. (Hegseth)’s dog tags were hovering over his face. “
What did Hegseth say to the police?
Hegseth told police he was giving the keynote speech at the conference. Later, he said, he went up to a party after he drank beer. He said he and others then went to the hotel bar. Police said hotel surveillance footage showed them, Doe and another woman walking into the bar, in a time-stamped video near midnight.
Hegseth said no one at the bar was “black drunk,” and while he was “buzzed,” he wasn’t drunk, according to the report.
Hegseth told police he did not remember any argument at the pool. He said he was confused about Doe going back to the hotel room with him, because he didn’t talk like he did with other people. Hegseth testified that the physical interaction between them was consensual. After that, he said, Doe told the man he would tell his wife that he had been sleeping on the couch in someone else’s room.
Before Doe left her room, Hegseth said, she told him she would remain silent about what happened — but he added that she was “showing early signs of remorse.” He did not specify what the signs were.
How did the police get involved?
Police were alerted when a Kaiser Permanente nurse called them on Oct. 12, 2017, to report that a woman had come in asking for a sexual exam. The patient wanted to remain anonymous — known as Jane Doe — and she also did not tell police Hegseth her name, according to the report.
The nurse said the patient was referred to the emergency room for examination.
The 22-page police report includes input from at least three officers, starting with the officer who handled the initial call to investigators who followed and spoke with Doe, another woman she was with that night; hotel employees; and Hegseth alone.
The report concluded with a recommendation to forward the case to the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office for review. It lists the potential criminal offense as “Rape: unconscious victim of the nature of the act” – citing California penal code section 261(a) (4). Under state law, rape is classified as a felony punishable by three to eight years in prison.
