A California metropolis launched a press release a couple of 2017 assault accusation that resulted in no expenses.
President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of protection, Pete Hegseth, launched a press release by way of his lawyer addressing stories that he sexually assaulted a girl in 2017—saying that he paid the accuser to move off the specter of a baseless lawsuit. The lawyer additionally fielded allegations associated to a tattoo of a cross on Hegseth’s chest.
His lawyer, Tim Parlatore, stated Sunday that the girl who made the accusation days later was the “aggressor,” though town didn’t point out that.
“He was falsely accused and my place is that he was the sufferer of blackmail,” Parlatore stated.
Parlatore added that Hegseth’s encounter with the girl was consensual and that the fee was made to the girl as a part of a confidential settlement a number of years after the police investigation as a result of she threatened a lawsuit that Hegseth believed might have resulted in him shedding his job as a Fox Information host.
Parlatore known as it a case of “profitable extortion.”
The assertion launched by the Metropolis of Monterey, in the meantime, offered few particulars in regards to the matter. It stated that the identify and age of the alleged sufferer is “confidential,” including that there was a report of “contusions to [the] proper thigh” concerned within the alleged incident, and no weapons had been concerned.
The incident occurred between 11:59 p.m. on Oct.7 and seven a.m. on Oct. 8, 2017, the assertion stated.
“Accordingly, the total police report, together with its evaluation and the conclusions mirrored therein, is exempt from public disclosure pursuant to the aforementioned (California) Code sections,” the assertion stated, including that the code solely “requires restricted disclosure of particular, non-private info referring to complaints or requests for help.”
Trump’s transition group had no quick remark Sunday on the memo. The Epoch Occasions contacted his marketing campaign for remark Sunday.
After the claims emerged about Hegseth final week, a spokesperson for Trump’s group stated in a press release that the president-elect is “nominating high-caliber and very certified candidates to serve in his Administration.”
“Mr. Hegseth has vigorously denied any and all accusations, and no expenses had been filed,” spokesman Steven Cheung stated within the assertion. “We sit up for his affirmation as United States Secretary of Protection so he can get began on Day One to Make America Secure and Nice Once more.”
Other than the report, Hegseth has spoken out towards latest assaults relating to a Jerusalem cross tattoo on his chest in addition to a tattoo on his arm that reads, “Deus Vult,” which is Latin for “God Wills It.” That motto first dates again to a Christian chant throughout the First Campaign within the late eleventh century.
Vice President-elect JD Vance additionally defended Hegseth in response to an Related Press report that claimed Hegseth was flagged as an “insider risk” as a result of cross tattoo.
“That is disgusting anti-Christian bigotry from the AP, and your complete group needs to be ashamed of itself.”
On social platform X, Hegseth wrote that “this sort of focusing on of Christians, conservatives, patriots and on a regular basis Individuals will cease on DAY ONE” if he’s nominated to move the Division of Protection.
The “Fox and Pals” presenter served a number of excursions within the Afghanistan and Iraq wars and holds levels from Harvard and Princeton.
The Related Press contributed to this report.