As President-elect Donald Trump transitioned to announcing Cabinet picks this week, his team was blindsided with information regarding a sexual assault allegation against one of his prior selections, Pete Hegseth, leading several members of the Trump staff to question whether he should receive such a nomination at all, two sources familiar with the matter tell.
Within only days of deliberating, Trump had declared he was tapping the former soldier-turned-Fox News pundit Hegseth as his next secretary of defense and with virtually no internal vetting process to speak of. The Trump transition team received a complaint within 48 hours that Hegseth was alleged to have committed sexual assault.
On Oct. 8, 2017, the campaign was supplied information consistent with what Monterey, California, police dubbed an investigation into “an alleged sexual assault” involving Hegseth.
Photos of the event posted on Facebook show Hegseth as a guest speaker at a conference organized by the California Federation of Republican Women at a hotel during the period in which most of her alleged attack occurred. Since 2017, neither Hegseth had been convicted of any criminal matter nor Hegseth being witness in any civil issue brought forward in Monterey County, and his lawyer denied any illegality.
During a phone call on Thursday, however, incoming chief of staff Susie Wiles questioned Hegseth regarding the nature of the allegations, according to a source familiar with the conversation. Wiles asked Hegseth if there were other issues the team should be cautious of in the months ahead.
Trump’s transition team caught off guard by Hegseth allegation
Pete Hegseth Said to Face Previous Sexual Misconduct Allegation
Sources say Donald Trump’s transition team leadership met with the former Fox News host, who is a left-field pick to head the Department of Defense, about the claims on Thursday.
