The Washington Post has a lengthy report about the incident, which happened at a California conference:
Hegseth’s attorney, Timothy Parlatore, said that Hegseth was “visibly intoxicated” at the time of the incident, and maintained that police who were contacted a few days after the encounter by the woman concluded that “the Complainant had been the aggressor in the encounter.” Police have not confirmed that assertion.
Hegseth agreed to pay an undisclosed amount to the woman because he feared that revelation of the matter “would result in his immediate termination from Fox,” where he worked as a host, the statement said.
The statement came after a detailed memo was sent to the Trump transition team this week by a woman who said she is a friend of the accuser. The memo, a copy of which was obtained by The Post, alleged he raped the then-30-year-old conservative group staffer in his room after drinking at a hotel bar. The person who sent the memo to the transition team did not respond to requests for comment from The Post.
The accuser, whose identity has not been made public, filed a complaint with the police alleging she was sexually assaulted days after the Oct. 7, 2017, encounter in Monterey, California, but the local district attorney did not bring charges. Police confirmed that they investigated the incident. After she threatened litigation in 2020, Hegseth made the payment and she signed the nondisclosure agreement, his attorney said.
Let’s assume the sexual encounter was consensual, as Hegseth says. The rest of the picture is hardly flattering to him.
The accuser, identified only as Jane Doe in the article, was some kind of minder for Hegseth at a California Federation of Republican Women conference. More from The Post:
At some point in the evening, the complaint alleged, Jane Doe received a text from two women at the bar who told her that “Hegseth was getting pushy about his interest in taking them upstairs to his room.” Jane Doe, who was nearby, came over and talked to those two women, and after they left, she “remembered sensing that Hegseth was irritated,” the memo said.
Hegseth was probably living with his third wife-to-be, who had just had his child, when he had the sexual encounter with Doe and allegedly behaved like a sexual predator toward her and her colleagues.
The Post notes that the sexual encounter occurred October 7, 2017 and that Hegseth’s second wife had filed for divorce the previous month.
You may recall that APM Reports wrote up Hegseth’s lengthy history of infidelity back when he was under consideration as VA secretary during Trump’s first term (emphases are mine):
In September [2017], Hegseth’s second wife, Samantha, filed for divorce in Minnesota. The divorce filing is dated one month after Hegseth and a Fox News producer who worked on his show named Jennifer Rauchet had a child, according to a person with firsthand knowledge of the relationship.
His first marriage also ended after Hegseth had an affair with a female work colleague.
According to an October 26, 2017 article on Mediaite, Hegseth was likely living with Baby Mama #3 Rauchet when he had the affair with Jane Doe:
Mediaite has learned that Hegseth, who is married, and Rauchet had a baby in August after rumors circulated for months that the two were having a secret affair. Mediaite cannot confirm if Hegseth’s divorce to his wife is yet finalized, though it is our understanding from a source close to the situation that it is “very nearly” completed. We understand that Rauchet has also filed for divorce from her husband and that Rauchet and Hegseth currently share the same apartment. She also has children from her current husband.
Hegseth and Rauchet reportedly married in August, 2019.
We don’t know what actually happened between Hegseth and Jane Doe but it would not be a huge surprise to discover that Hegseth is a sexual predator, just like his buddy Donald Trump. Besides an affinity for Trump – who has boasted about grabbing women by the p***y – Hegseth successfully lobbied Trump to pardon war criminals, he thinks the U.S. military is too woke, i.e. too sensitive, and he doesn’t want women in combat. Too distracting for ya, Petey?
APM Reports has lots of other disturbing details about Hegseth, including his miserable management record at non-profits nowhere near the size of the Department of Defense.
This paints an awful picture of Hegseth’s morality, or should I say lack thereof. But it’s still way worse that the guy has NO EXPERIENCE running a department that is so crucial for keeping all Americans safe.
(Crossposted with minor edits from NewsHounds.us)
