Fox Information host turned Secretary of Protection nominee Pete Hegseth confronted an investigation over a sexual assault allegation, blindsiding President-elect Donald Trump’s transition workforce, in accordance with information studies.
Officers in Monterey, California, confirmed Friday that Hegeth was investigated for sexual assault in 2017 following an incident within the metropolis that left a sufferer with “contusions to [their] proper thigh.” Hegseth was not charged.
“The Metropolis of Monterey won’t be making every other remarks associated to this inquiry,” the affirmation learn.
The allegations got here to the eye of Trump’s incoming Chief of Workers Susie Wiles on Wednesday night time, a day after Trump introduced the choose, with one Trump workforce supply telling Self-importance Truthful that Hegseth “wasn’t vetted.”
One other transition high-up advised the publication Hegseth “was vetted, however this alleged incident didn’t come up.”
Wiles and Trump’s attorneys met with Hegseth on Thursday to debate the allegations, a transition workforce supply advised Self-importance Truthful. Hegseth’s lawyer denied the allegation and mentioned the Monterey police division “discovered no proof for it.”
Wiles has reportedly already been stored out of the loop on key personnel picks. Matt Gaetz’s lawyer basic bid got here collectively on board Trump’s airplane whereas Wiles was in a “totally different, adjoining room on the airplane, apparently unaware,” per Politico Playbook.
The allegations come as Hegseth faces public scrutiny right into a historical past of misogynistic feedback, together with his suggestion that girls be banned from fight roles.
“I’m straight up simply saying we shouldn’t have girls in fight roles,” Hegseth mentioned on a right-wing podcast final week. “It hasn’t made us more practical. It hasn’t made us extra deadly. It has made combating extra difficult.”
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