Question

Trump's Pentagon nominee, Pete Hegseth, has been accused of sexual assault.

Comments

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

Answer 1

The claim, that Hegseth has been accused, is true. A police report from 2017 detailing the alleged assault was obtained by reporting agencies following Hegseth's appointment, which is the main source for their reporting. The identity of the accuser is kept anonymous, with the report only referring to her as Jane Doe, and the report contains descriptions of the events of that night from both her and several other witnesses. Hegseth is mentioned to have settled with his accuser to protect his career, but as his team has stated repeatedly, Hegseth was never charged and continues to deny the validity of the claims. (The Mediaite article linked below contains links to the pdf version of the report, and the other two sources contain largely the same details aside from their analysis of how it may potentially impact Hegseth's political career.)

https://www.mediaite.com/politics/new-full-police-report-details-pete-hegseth-sexual-assault-allegation/

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

https://www.npr.org/2024/11/21/nx-s1-5199630/police-report-gives-details-timeline-of-the-sexual-assault-claim-against-pete-hegseth

Answer 2

This claim is true. Multiple news sources reported on this starting in 2024, when a police report was released detailing the story. However, he was never charged with the crime because he paid the woman settlement money in exchange for her silence. He and his team have said multiple times that the accusation is false.

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

https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/17/politics/pete-hegseth-sexual-assault-settlement-agreement/index.html

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25364429-hegseth_2017_police_report/

Answer 3

The claim that Pete Hegseth has been accused of sexual assault is true. A 22 page case report detailing the incident was released in October of 2017, which has been cited by multiple news outlets. It's important to acknowledge the political biases of the news sites covering the issue. Mediaite, the original credited source of this claim, tends to be left-leaning with their stories. Right-leaning news outlets such as Fox News have covered the claim too, speaking to the claims' legitimacy.

Mediate: https://www.mediaite.com/politics/new-full-police-report-details-pete-hegseth-sexual-assault-allegation/

Fox News: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pete-hegseth-release-accuser-confidentiality-agreement-setting-up-public-showdown

Police Report: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25364429-hegseth_2017_police_report/

Answer 4

Yes, the claim is true. Pete Hegseth has been accused of sexual assault, while Pete Hegseth denies this ever happened. It's good to note that he ended up paying the victim 50,000 to drop the charges. The woman chose to remain nameless in this report; surveillance footage shows them together on that night and that they were both heavily intoxicated. It's good to note that multiple women have come forward with claims that Pete Hegseth has put his hands on them and been inappropriate towards women. 

Police Report ----> https://htv-prod-media.s3.amazonaws.com/files/hegseth-673ec27f8a75f.pdf

https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/pete-hegseths-secret-history

https://apnews.com/article/hegseth-sex-assault-payment-trump-6674cc8cfee654c374725948e01ff666

Answer 5

This claim is true. The claim cited a BlueSky post that contained a link to a Mediaite article. According to an article on CNN, in 2017, a woman in California accused Pete Hegseth of sexually assaulting her. This information can be found in a now-public, 22-page police report. It was released by the city attorney’s office of Monterey, California, in November of 2024 in response to a public records request. Although, Donald Trump, his team, and Hegseth deny the validity of these claims. According to CNN, no charges were filed, but the accusation still stands and has been verifiably documented. 

Source:

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

The Report:

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25364429-hegseth_2017_police_report/

Answer 6

The claim that Trump's Pentagon nominee, Pete Hegseth, has been accused of sexual assault is true and accurate. According to a 2017 police report, a woman in California accused the Defense Secretary nominee of sexually assaulting her. At the bottom of the police report it is stated that the officer on report was “dispatched for an alleged sexual assault”. While no charges were filed, he was for a fact accused of sexual assault.

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25362284-hegseth-police-report/

https://www.npr.org/2024/11/21/nx-s1-5199630/police-report-gives-details-timeline-of-the-sexual-assault-claim-against-pete-hegseth

In this article, written by CNN about how the “police report reveals new details from sexual assault allegation against Trump’s defense secretary nominee”. Again confirming that he was for a fact accused of sexual assault, explaining that, “a California woman told police that Trump Cabinet pick Pete Hegseth physically blocked her from leaving a hotel room, took her phone, and then sexually assaulted her even though she “remembered saying ‘no’”. Its important to also highlight that several other women also have come forward saying that Hegseth was “putting his hands on their legs at a conference” and “did not appreciate how he treated women”.

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

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

Answer 7

This claim is true. Pete Hegseth has been accused of sexual assault by a women in 2017 police report. Steven Cheung, Trumps communications director, stated that Hegseth has denied any wrongdoing and has not been formally charged with this crime. Hegseth's lawyer stated that Hegseth entered a settlement agreement with the women that contained an undisclosed amount of money and a confidentiality clause. 

Sources 

1. https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/pete-hegseths-secret-history
2. https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/21/politics/pete-hegseth-police-report-defense-secretary-trump/index.html