On the afternoon of October 12, 2017, a Kaiser Permanente nurse called the Monterey Police Department to report that a patient had come in for a sexual assault evaluation.
A nurse told police that the woman was sexually assaulted four days earlier while attending a Republican Women’s Conference at the Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel & Spa in a California coastal resort. Ta.
The suspect’s name was not immediately released, but he was a popular host on Fox News Channel and a keynote speaker at the conference.
The woman, identified only as Jane Doe in the police report, told the nurse that she was unsure whether to involve authorities and did not want to give her name at that time. After returning home from the conference, she suffered from nightmares and violent sobbing, but had little recollection of the sexual encounter. She was worried that she had been drugged. The woman, whose identity has not been made public, could not be reached for comment by The Times.
The nurse referred the woman to the emergency room for a forensic examination for sexual assault. But the nurse’s mandated reporter call sparked a law enforcement investigation that included interviews with hotel staff, review of surveillance video, discussions with several of the female co-workers, and the investigation into the alleged perpetrator, Pete Hegseth. The police testified as follows: The encounter was consensual.
Charges were never filed. Monterey County District Atty. Janine M. Pacioni said no charges were supported by evidence beyond a reasonable doubt. The parties ultimately reached a private settlement, after which Mr. Doe signed a non-disclosure agreement.
The story seemed to end there, until Donald Trump nominated Hegseth to be secretary of defense. Now, that night in Monterey has become the centerpiece of one of the most controversial Senate confirmation races in years.
In recent days, police reports and other details about the incident have provided a clearer picture of the charges. But much remains unclear, including why local prosecutors decided not to charge Hegseth.
Shortly after the president-elect announced Hegseth’s nomination, a friend of the woman wrote a memo to Trump’s transition team stating that Hegseth had raped a then-30-year-old conservative organization staffer in a hotel room in the early morning hours after the incident. Ta. Dinner at the California Republican Women’s Federation Conference.
In response, Mr. Hegseth confirmed the financial settlement through his lawyer, saying he had agreed to pay the woman to protect her job at Fox. However, he strongly denied assault. Hegseth’s lawyer said in a statement that the woman “was the perpetrator who initiated the sexual activity.” Hegseth was “visibly intoxicated” at the after-party at a hotel bar, and a woman “grabbed him by the arm and led him to a hotel room,” the lawyer said.
“This matter has been thoroughly investigated and I’m completely cleared. I’m going to leave it alone,” Hegseth told reporters Thursday at the Capitol.
The revelations caused an uproar not only in Washington but also among members of the California Republican Women’s Federation.
pete hegseth
(Evan Vucci/Associated Press)
The federation is a nonprofit advocacy organization made up primarily of retirees. Its members gather for luncheons, conferences, and fundraisers to hear Republican politicians speak about conservative issues.
Many in the group feared that the allegations could taint popular conservative Republican Cabinet picks.
“This is a total sham,” one organization official shouted, hanging up on a Times reporter seeking comment.
The Monterey Police Department released a redacted 22-page report this week detailing the investigation. The report also includes memoirs from Doe and Hegseth and several other participants. Police reports are not normally made public in California, but the documents were made public because Hegseth had requested a copy in advance.
The police report provides the most complete picture yet of the events that occurred at the Monterey Hotel on October 7 and 8, 2017.
On the second day of the three-day gathering, Ms. Doe rested in the hotel room where she was staying with her husband and at least one young child before the final major scheduled event of the conference, a banquet and keynote address. I took it. — According to text messages and sources familiar with the event, the event began at 6 p.m.
Forty-five minutes later, she texted her husband from the banquet. The conversation turned to Hegseth.
“Our ladies are drooling over him,” she wrote. She sent a photo of Hegseth standing at a podium with a microphone, gesturing with his hands as he spoke.
“He doesn’t look at all familiar,” she said. “But apparently all the women know who he is.”
She continued: “He wears a ring on his index finger. It creeps me out.” She lamented that the event was taking too long.
After the banquet, the women went to an after-party in a suite at another federation hotel, where they drank champagne. There was also Hegseth. A federation member who was present later told police that the woman “didn’t seem to be intoxicated, but was making a scene.”
Around midnight, Doe, Hegseth and another woman walked toward Knuckles, a sports bar inside the hotel. Inside the now-closed bar, TVs and football helmets lined the walls. She texted her husband to update him and told him she was going to a bar with a group of women. “Oh, I have so much to say. This Pete guy…is too bad,” she wrote.
While they were drinking at a bar, Hegseth allegedly placed his hand on another woman’s knee. She told police that even though she made it clear that it was “unacceptable,” he still invited her to his room. According to reports, she declined.
cannery row in monterey
(Zenreal/Getty Images)
The same woman tried to get Doe’s attention so she could act as a “crotch blocker” to thwart Hegseth’s sexual advances, the report said.
Doe told police that while he was at the bar, his memory began to become “fuzzy.”
At about 1:30 a.m., Doe got into an argument with Hegseth near the hotel pool about his behavior toward women at a meeting. He reportedly responded that he was a “nice person.” She later told investigators that Hegseth sometimes rubbed women’s legs and that she thought his behavior was inappropriate.
A hotel employee who worked that night told investigators that a guest called the front desk around 1:30 a.m. to complain about two people causing a disturbance by the pool. According to the employee, when he approached Hegseth and Doe, Hegseth swore. “I have freedom of speech,” he said, the report said. The woman reportedly intervened and said, “They are Republicans and apologized to Mr. Hegseth for his actions.”
Officials said the woman was “standing alone and very rational,” while Hegseth was “very intoxicated,” according to the report.
Doe put his hand and arm on Hegseth’s back and escorted him toward the building where Hegseth’s room was located, the employee told police. Hegseth later told investigators that he did not remember being chastised at the pool.
Early in the morning, Doe’s husband sent her a text message. “Oh my god, woman who smokes…I can’t remember the last time you were socializing near 2am,” she replied. I have to check that” — finished mid-sentence — and stopped texting.
Her husband replied: my love? I’m worried about you. ”
Around 2 a.m., her husband told investigators that he went to Knuckles to look for Doe, but no one was there.
Dou then remembered a time when he and Hegseth were alone in a hotel room. She had a cell phone in her hand and Hegseth told police he asked her who she was texting before taking the phone. She tried to leave the room, but Hegseth blocked the door, the report said. She told police she remembered saying “no” multiple times.
Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, speaks to reporters in Washington on Thursday.
(Rod Lambkey/Associated Press)
Her next memory, she told police, was of Hegseth lying on the bed or couch with his dog tags floating above his face. The man ejaculated on her face, threw a towel at her and told her to “clean up” before asking if she was OK, the report said.
In an interview with authorities, Hegseth recalled the situation differently.
The man told police that Doe led him to a hotel room, where things developed between them, according to the report. He told police there was “constant” conversation between him and Doe and “always” consensual contact.
Hegseth recalled Doe showing “early signs of remorse” after the incident and said she would tell her husband that she had fallen asleep on the couch in someone else’s room, the report said.
Around 4 a.m., Doe returned to her hotel room and told her husband, “I think I fell asleep.” She told police she didn’t remember what happened between her and Hegseth until she got home the next day.
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