"Unpopular" or not, allegations need to be looked into. This was the first I've heard about this. Between the left's frequent bogus allegations of rape (no need to iterate them here) on one side and finding out people we admired are actually creeps (ibid) on the other side, we can't take anything at "face value" anymore.
AHHH... I found your source (read through five other leftist FNM sources that had absolutely nothing on any payoff)... WaPo. Lol. Reading through the article it's looking an awful lot like the woman was trying to get some $$ off the incident and/or didn't want to take responsibility for having consensual sex with someone she'd just met while her husband was in another hotel room, perhaps fell asleep by mistake. Police did investigate it at the time and did not file any charges, stated that there was no evidence to support charging Hegseth. It wasn't until two years later that she decided to make noise about it and Hegseth's lawyer advised him to pay her something and get a non-disclosure agreement between them, two-and-a-half years after the encounter.
So more than one witness stated that he was "visibly intoxicated" and that she was not yet she claims she was "hazy" and can't remember anything. Video surveillance shows her smiling and leading him by the arm on the way to his room. In support of Hegseth's innocence there are: witnesses and video surveillance regarding intoxication/sobriety, police investigation findings and the medical examiner's statement.
I don't know; only the two of them know what went on between them in his hotel room. Based on what I'm reading it doesn't appear that this was rape, but was more likely regret on her part. Perhaps he should have let his Fox career get torched by the allegation and gone to court at the time.
As far as Trump's team's knowledge of this beforehand, it appears (reference the other five linked FNM sources I'd mentioned previously, below) they did not, but reviewed it as soon as they were notified and are confident of his innocence in the matter, are still supporting him for the position.
.
From WaPo --
** "... “Witnesses stated that Mr. Hegseth was visibly intoxicated but the Complainant was not, as she led him by the arm to his hotel room,” the statement from Hegseth’s lawyer said. He said that video surveillance confirmed the two were walking “with arms locked together” and that the woman was smiling.
According to Hegseth’s lawyer, once the two were in his hotel room, the woman did not leave and was “the aggressor in initiating sexual activity.”
After the encounter, the woman “expressed concern because she had not gone back to her room,” according to Hegseth’s lawyer. Hegseth told police that she planned to tell her husband she had fallen asleep on the couch in another guest’s room, according to the statement.
According to the memo, Jane Doe “didn’t remember anything until she was in Hegseth’s hotel room and then stumbling to find her hotel room.” The memo said that her memory of six to nine hours “was very hazy,” and that her husband was searching for her and was relieved when she finally showed up.
Hegseth’s lawyer also alleged that the medical examination of the woman “produced no evidence that the sexual contact was nonconsensual” and that a police investigation found no evidence to support charging Hegseth. ..." **
.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/11/16/pete-hegseth-sexual-assault-accuser-paid/
.
From the GAW post's linked CNBC article - "...Hegseth's attorney, Timothy Parlatore told CNBC, "The police department confirmed last night that it was fully investigated and he was cleared."
"It was a false allegation ... which is, unfortunately, something that happens with public figures," Parlatore said. "He cooperated completely and he did nothing wrong." ..."
.
https://www.newsweek.com/pete-hegseth-sexual-assault-allegationeverything-we-know-1986230
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pete-hegseth-alleged-sexual-assault-2017-monterey/
https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/15/politics/trump-transition-hegseth-allegations
"Unpopular" or not, allegations need to be looked into. This was the first I've heard about this. Between the left's frequent bogus allegations of rape (no need to iterate them here) on one side and finding out people we admired are actually creeps (ibid) on the other side, we can't take anything at "face value" anymore.
AHHH... I found your source (read through five other leftist FNM sources that had absolutely nothing on any payoff)... WaPo. Lol. Reading through the article it's looking an awful lot like the woman was trying to get some $$ off the incident and/or didn't want to take responsibility for having consensual sex with someone she'd just met while her husband was in another hotel room, perhaps fell asleep by mistake. Police did investigate it at the time and did not file any charges, stated that there was no evidence to support charging Hegseth. It wasn't until two years later that she decided to make noise about it and Hegseth's lawyer advised him to pay her something and get a non-disclosure agreement between them, two-and-a-half years after the encounter.
So more than one witness stated that he was "visibly intoxicated" and that she was not yet she claims she was "hazy" and can't remember anything. Video surveillance shows her smiling and leading him by the arm on the way to his room. In support of Hegseth's innocence there are: witnesses and video surveillance regarding intoxication/sobriety, police investigation findings and the medical examiner's statement.
I don't know; only the two of them know what went on between them in his hotel room. Based on what I'm reading it doesn't appear that this was rape, but was more likely regret on her part. Perhaps he should have let his Fox career get torched by the allegation and gone to court at the time.
As far as Trump's team's knowledge of this beforehand, it appears (reference the other five linked FNM sources I'd mentioned previously, below) they did not, but reviewed it as soon as they were notified and are confident of his innocence in the matter, are still supporting him for the position.
.
From WaPo --
** "... “Witnesses stated that Mr. Hegseth was visibly intoxicated but the Complainant was not, as she led him by the arm to his hotel room,” the statement from Hegseth’s lawyer said. He said that video surveillance confirmed the two were walking “with arms locked together” and that the woman was smiling.
According to Hegseth’s lawyer, once the two were in his hotel room, the woman did not leave and was “the aggressor in initiating sexual activity.”
After the encounter, the woman “expressed concern because she had not gone back to her room,” according to Hegseth’s lawyer. Hegseth told police that she planned to tell her husband she had fallen asleep on the couch in another guest’s room, according to the statement.
According to the memo, Jane Doe “didn’t remember anything until she was in Hegseth’s hotel room and then stumbling to find her hotel room.” The memo said that her memory of six to nine hours “was very hazy,” and that her husband was searching for her and was relieved when she finally showed up.
Hegseth’s lawyer also alleged that the medical examination of the woman “produced no evidence that the sexual contact was nonconsensual” and that a police investigation found no evidence to support charging Hegseth. ..." **
.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/11/16/pete-hegseth-sexual-assault-accuser-paid/
.
From the post's linked CNBC article - "...Hegseth's attorney, Timothy Parlatore told CNBC, "The police department confirmed last night that it was fully investigated and he was cleared."
"It was a false allegation ... which is, unfortunately, something that happens with public figures," Parlatore said. "He cooperated completely and he did nothing wrong." ..."
.
https://www.newsweek.com/pete-hegseth-sexual-assault-allegationeverything-we-know-1986230
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pete-hegseth-alleged-sexual-assault-2017-monterey/
https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/15/politics/trump-transition-hegseth-allegations