Police report reveals assault allegations against Hegseth, Trump’s defence secretary pick

A woman told police that she was sexually assaulted in 2017 by Pete Hegseth after he took her phone, blocked the door to a California hotel room and refused to let her leave, according to a detailed investigative report made public late on Wednesday.

Hegseth, a former Fox News personality and president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be defence secretary, told police at the time that the encounter had been consensual and denied any wrongdoing, the report said.

News of the allegations surfaced last week when local officials released a brief statement confirming that a woman had accused Hegseth of sexual assault in October 2017 after he had spoken at a Republican women’s event in Monterey.

“The matter was fully investigated and I was completely cleared,” Hegseth told reporters on Thursday at the US Capitol, where he was meeting senators to build support for his nomination.

The report does not say that police found the allegations were false. Police recommended the case report be forwarded to the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office for review.