“Fox & Friends” host Pete Hegseth at the National Young Israel Council Gala in New York City.
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California police have launched an investigation fox news host Peter Heggs —Who the president-elect picked this week Donald Trump be next Department of Defense Officials say the case is related to an alleged sexual assault that occurred at a hotel in 2017.
Hegseth, 44, was not charged following the investigation that year. Monterey Police Department. He denies the accusations.
A spokesman for the city of Monterey told NBC News in a statement that police “investigated an incident that occurred between 11:59 p.m. and 7 a.m. local time at 1 Old Golf Course Road, where the Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel & Spa is located. A suspected sexual assault incident” from October 7 to 8, 2017.
At that time, the National Federation of Republican Women was holding a conference in the hotel.
The statement noted “a contusion on the right thigh,” but did not specify whose thigh it was.
The name and age of the alleged victim were not released in the statement.
The spokesman said the full police report on the alleged incident did not need to be made public.
vanity fair The alleged incident was first reported.
Hegseth’s attorney, Timothy Parlatore, told CNBC, “The police department confirmed last night that a full investigation into the matter has been conducted and that he has been exonerated.”
“This is a false accusation… It’s unfortunate that this happens to a public figure,” Parlatore said. “He fully cooperated and did nothing wrong.”
Trump spokesman Steven Chang said in a statement, “Mr. Hegseth categorically denies any and all accusations and no charges have been filed,” Chang said. “We look forward to his confirmation as America’s Secretary of Defense so that he can make America safe and great again from day one.”
Hegseth, who left Fox News on Tuesday, divorced his second wife in 2017, the same year he gave birth to a daughter with then-Fox News producer Jennifer Rauchet.
Hegseth married Rauchet in 2019 at Trump National Golf Club Colts Neck in New Jersey.
Hegseth served as an infantry officer in the Army National Guard from 2002 to 2021, during which time he deployed to Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay.
Trump’s choice of him as the next Pentagon chief surprised many Republican senators.
“WHO?” asked Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana. when the selection was announced Tuesday. “I don’t know Pete. I don’t know anything about him.”
