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    • Pete Hegseth’s changing story in sexual assault investigation
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    Pete Hegseth’s changing story in sexual assault investigation

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    The controversial 2017 sexual encounter that could derail President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Defense Department involved alcohol, personal disgust — and a shifting narrative that sexual assault experts say could weaken the credibility of former Fox News host Pete Hegseth.

    Hegseth told investigators in a newly released 2017 police report that he had only been drinking beer and was “buzzed” but not drunk at the Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel and Spa in Northern California before the incident, which led to a sexual assault investigation and a sexual abuse investigation. confidential monetary settlement.

    Hegseth’s statement to police directly contradicts a 2017 witness report — and recent statements from Hegseth’s attorney, who said he was visibly intoxicated on the night in question and that his alleged victim was “the aggressor in the encounter.” was.

    No charges have been filed and Hegseth has maintained the encounter was consensual.

    More: A new era in American politics: When allegations of sexual misconduct are overlooked

    The release of the graphic police report came on the same day that former lawmaker Matt Gaetz resigned as Trump’s next attorney general amid allegations of sexual misconduct involving a minor.

    In addition to Gaetz, Trump has nominated three other men accused of sexual misconduct to key positions in his next administration: Hegseth, Elon Musk and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

    Although Gaetz faced an uphill battle for confirmation, Hegseth “will be in pretty good shape,” Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., the likely next chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told reporters Thursday after meeting with the nominee. .

    A ‘creeper’ atmosphere

    The 2017 accusation centers on a California Federation of Republican Women convention where Hegseth, a telegenic Republican culture warrior, was the keynote speaker on Saturday, October 7, and his alleged victim was an employee of the organization.

    That evening, the alleged victim expressed his disgust for Hegseth several times.

    In text messages to her husband, who was staying at the hotel with what was reported to be their two small children, she wrote that Hegseth gave off “creeper” vibes and made fun of him as he spoke from the stage.

    “I’m staying here all night,” she wrote. “It’s terrible.” She also texted her husband that she had been drinking “way more than normal.”

    More: Trump defender Pete Hegseth has paid a settlement to the woman who accused him of sexual assault, denies the allegations

    ‘Cross blocker’

    Later that evening, after conference attendees had moved from an after-party to a sports bar at the hotel, the alleged victim intervened when Hegseth became pushy by asking another woman back to his room, touching the woman’s knee while performing his play, the police report said.

    The woman “caught the attention of JANE DOE,” as the alleged victim is referred to in the police report, “and caused JANE DOE to become a ‘cross blocker,'” an investigator wrote. The alleged victim did not appear to be intoxicated, the witness told police.

    An argument by the pool

    Video surveillance footage showed Hegseth and the alleged victim leaving the hotel bar arm in arm around 1:15 a.m. on October 8.

    At 1:30 a.m. noise complaints sent a hotel employee to a swimming pool where they found the alleged victim and Hegseth. They had an argument, she told police, over what she characterized as Hegseth’s disrespectful treatment of the woman at the bar. The employee told police that Hegseth appeared “very drunk” and that he swore when asked to keep the noise down and said he had “freedom of speech.”

    The alleged victim apologized to the employee and led Hegseth away from the pool to his room.

    More: Pete Hegseth, Trump’s chosen Secretary of Defense, was involved in a sexual assault investigation in 2017: police

    ‘Worried about you’

    Sometime afterward, she received a text message from her husband that read, “Holy smokes lady…I can’t remember the last time you were socializing at almost 2 in the morning.”

    Her last message of the evening was cut off: “Hahaha, I know. I have to make sure…”

    Her husband replied, “Are you okay?” My dearest? Worried about you.’

    Buzzed or drunk?

    Around 4 a.m. Sunday, the alleged victim returned to her hotel room and attended activities for the Republican women’s group that morning. On Monday, she started remembering parts of the incident with Hegseth, she told police.

    Four days after the incident, the alleged victim conducted a sexual assault investigation and a nurse notified police. The victim told investigators she did not know how she got into Hegseth’s room, but said she remembered Hegseth blocking the door when she tried to leave. She told police that at one point he took her phone.

    Hegseth told police that he was “buzzed” at night, but not drunk, and that he did not remember being punished for the noise at the pool or being combative with anyone. He “didn’t even remember a thought” about having sex with the alleged victim prior to their encounter, he told investigators, and was surprised when she joined him in his room.

    The police report says Hegseth “stated that there was ‘always’ conversation and ‘always’ consensual contact between the two of them.” He told police that the alleged victim “showed early signs of remorse” afterward, the report said.

    Seven years later, with a cabinet appointment at stake, Hegseth’s lawyer, Timothy Parlatore, told the media that Hegseth was “visibly intoxicated” and that the woman was “the aggressor in the encounter.”

    A changed story

    Any time claims change during a criminal investigation, it raises questions, said Laurie Levenson, a criminal law expert at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.

    “Does it work better to say he was not drunk and strengthen his position that he was a responsible person who evaluated this woman’s intoxication?” Levenson said of Hegseth’s reversal. “Or is it better to say, ‘Gosh, I don’t remember the details because I was so drunk?'”

    Levenson said issues surrounding intoxication and consent are common in sexual assault allegations. She noted that the prosecutor’s decision not to press charges is not the same as clearing Hegseth of wrongdoing.

    Hegseth made the accusation Thursday to a group of reporters on Capitol Hill who asked, “Did you sexually assault a woman in Monterey, California?”

    More: California police release details of Pete Hegseth’s sexual assault report

    “It’s very simple,” Hegseth replied. “The case has been fully investigated and I have been fully exonerated. And I’ll leave it at that.’

    Hegseth later paid the alleged victim an undisclosed amount to settle a possible civil claim, Parlatore told media. The settlement included a confidentiality clause that prohibited her from discussing the incident. When contacted by CNN last week, she “became visibly distraught at the mention of Hegseth’s name but declined to be interviewed,” the outlet reported.

    Former Utah sex crimes investigator Justin Boardman, now a consultant, said he was struck by the discrepancy between Hegseth’s statement to police in 2017 about whether we were drunk and his attorney’s words this week.

    “He described himself as level-headed and talked carefully every step of the way during a consensual encounter,” Boardman said. “He said anything to make himself appear in the best possible light to the police.” Parlatore did not respond to a question about Hegseth’s changed story.

    Consent to sexual assault cases are difficult for the court

    Alcohol and drug use are often a pivotal point in sexual violence investigations. National standards warn nurse examiners that voluntary alcohol or drug use is often used to undermine a victim’s credibility in court, but in some cases it can be helpful in prosecuting a case by documenting their vulnerability.

    The standards also establish a toxicology collection window of approximately 96 hours after an alleged assault. The 2017 woman reported the incident after four days, or about right on the edge of that window.

    More: What to know about sexual misconduct allegations against Trump administration picks

    The official report does not indicate whether a toxicological examination has been completed, which could indicate the presence of alcohol and drugs.

    In California, as elsewhere, people cannot consent if they are too drunk, but a prosecutor must prove that the condition was “known or reasonably should have been known to the suspect.”

    Boardman, the former sexual assault investigator, said alcohol and drug-facilitated cases are particularly difficult to investigate and prove to a jury. They face hurdles in measuring alcohol consumption and the rape biases ingrained in juries.

    Hegseth’s actions with the other woman at the bar could also be considered, Boardman said.

    “He had the courage to go after someone else and cast at the bar,” Boardman said. “He touched other women inappropriately.”

    On Thursday, Trump’s transition spokesperson Karoline Leavitt defended Hegseth after the release of the police report.

    “This report confirms what Mr. Hegseth’s attorneys have said all along: the incident was fully investigated and no charges were filed because police determined the allegations were false,” Leavitt said.

    In a statement to KSBW News, the Monterey County District Attorney’s office said that “none of the charges were supported by evidence beyond a reasonable doubt.”

    Nick Penzenstadler is a USA TODAY investigative team reporter. Contact him at [email protected] or @npenzenstadler, or via Signal at (720) 507-5273.

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