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in General Factchecking by Innovator (51.5k points)
Trump's Pentagon nominee, Pete Hegseth, has been accused of sexual assault.
ago by (100 points)
1 0
Using the 8 steps of fact checking
1:yes the claim traces back to the police report. I read the report and all the stated information checked out. You can find the report here https://www.mediaite.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/11-20-24-Mediaite.pdf
2: Although I don't fully trust or know much about Mediaite, CNN made their own report on the matter that matched up to the report made by them so I trust it.
3:Aiden Mclaughlin has other reports and papers he's done through the website so he checks out as an editor in chief. I also looked into his twitter just to make sure the photos matched him and they do(@aidnmclaughlin) I also looked into Diana Falzone and she checked out as well. They worked on this piece together. https://www.mediaite.com/author/aidan-mclaughlin/
4: The article was posted Nov 20th, 2024, 11:31 pm so it is fairly new news.
5:yes outlets like cnn and fox news have also reported on this same news.
6:The photos match who they are talking about and the police report was also a match.
7:everything checks out on factchecker.org
8:the headline clearly states whats talked about in the article

6 Answers

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by Novice (560 points)
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Best answer

This claim made by the BlueSky user is true. According to a 2017 police report, a woman in California accused the Defense Secretary nominee of sexually assaulting her. However, both Donald Trump's spokespeople and Hegseth deny the validity of these claims. While no charges were filed, Hegseth will likely face many questions regarding the accusations in his confirmation hearing. 

https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/21/politics/pete-hegseth-police-report-defense-secretary-trump/index.html 

True
by Novice (580 points)
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I appreciate the conciseness of your fact check, it would be nice if you explained why you linked that article in place of others that have covered this event. I would also like to add that Hegseth's lawyer confirmed that the woman was "paid an undisclosed sum" in avoidance of a rumored lawsuit. I think that this adds context to the situation. I found a detailed report of this by the Associated Press.
https://apnews.com/article/hegseth-sexual-assault-allegations-trump-defense-secretary-677b2df5859a338feac4714c60ef369d
ago by (100 points)
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this was very informative thank you but i would like to know more it would be helpful if you went deeper into the validity of th police report or add a link. i would like to know how this will effect him going foward and what that could mean for others around him.
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ago by Newbie (220 points)

The claim that Pete Hegseth has been accused of sexual assault is true. A 22 page police report released in October of 2017 by the Monterey Police Department goes over the accusation in detail. The report can be found here: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25364429-hegseth_2017_police_report/

True
ago by (100 points)
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could you give some more evidence as to why you think its true becouse the police report doesnt fully state that. this post is helpfull but i would love more information and sites where youve found information that supports yourt claim that the alligation in true. Thank you.
ago by Newbie (250 points)
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I like how straight forward and non confusing this response is. It does a good job of giving an answer and then a source for the information. Although it is a straight forward statement it needs more explanation of the source. The source should be evaluated for where the claim is coming from in the first place, and how reliable of a website it is. Even though the source you used is very strong it should still be looked at on a deep level.
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ago by (180 points)

The claim that president Trump's Pentagon nominee, Pete Hegseth, being accused of sexual assault is true. In October of 2017 a 22-page report, was released by the city attorney’s office of Monterey, California. The report includes how intoxicated Hegseth and the woman were, and descriptions of video surveillance showing some of their movements that night.  It is also to be noted that several women also came forward saying Hegseth was "putting his hands on their legs at a conference" and "did not apperiacte how he treated women". These reports and other claims made by multiple women, show that Hegseth was for fact accused of sexual assault. It is also important to take into account that Hegseth Lawyer disclosed that the women who made the claim was paid an "undisclosed sum" to brush away the rumored assault. These reports and facts can be found here.

https://apnews.com/article/hegseth-sexual-assault-allegations-trump-defense-secretary-677b2df5859a338feac4714c60ef369d

https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/21/politics/pete-hegseth-police-report-defense-secretary-trump/index.html

True
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ago by Newbie (270 points)
This claim is true. while the initial claim on News Detective is linked to a social media site, the link embedded in that post took me to a news outlet. While unfamiliar with the company, I found it credible after further research and confirmed the claim. Even so, I searched and found articles on both CBS News (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pete-hegseth-alleged-sexual-assault-2017-monterey/), and CNN (https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/21/politics/pete-hegseth-police-report-defense-secretary-trump/index.html). Both of these outlets got their information from Hegseth's representative, and the police report (a copy linked here https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25362284-hegseth-police-report/). The photos in the initial article are Hegseth, and all three articles are recent (November 2024).
True
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ago by Newbie (340 points)
This claim is in fact true. If you go to the article the user cited, you will find at the bottom the orginal police report. What is stated in the claim is exactly what is on the police report with the officer saying on the report, "I was dispatched for an alleged sexual assault".

https://www.mediaite.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/11-20-24-Mediaite.pdf
True
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ago by Newbie (230 points)

This post is true. Hegseth denies the allegations about sexually assaulting a woman back in 2017 but the case ended with a settlement. According to the WSJ President Trump knew about the allegations while nominating him for Defense Secretary but says he believes Hegseth did not do anything wrong and the allegation is false. 

https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/pete-hegseth-confirmation-hearing/card/hegseth-says-he-was-falsely-accused-as-sen-hirono-airs-sex-drinking-allegations-tI9fSECQsBeDE7DOaPkh

True

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