Richard Hanania

@RichardHanania

A woman accused Pete Hegseth of rape in 2017. The Washington Post has new details.

Hegseth claims he only had consensual sex with a drunk married woman who was charged with getting him back to his hotel room. She was staring in the hotel with her husband and two children when Hegseth allegedly rape her. Other women had texted her at the time saying that Hegseth was harassing them.

The memo sent to the Trump team, the details of which have not been previously reported, said that the woman identified in the memo only as “Jane Doe” was there with the California Federation of Republican Women. The woman was staying at the hotel with her small children and her husband, according to the memo, which laid out the woman’s complaint.

One of her responsibilities at the conference was to make sure Hegseth made it back to his room and left in time the next morning for the 90-minute drive to the airport, the memo said.

At some point in the evening, the complaint alleged, Jane Doe received a text from two women at the bar who told her that “Hegseth was getting pushy about his interest in taking them upstairs to his room.” Jane Doe, who was nearby, came over and talked to those two women, and after they left, she “remembered sensing that Hegseth was irritated,” the memo said.

What happened next is in dispute.

According to the memo, Jane Doe “didn’t remember anything until she was in Hegseth’s hotel room and then stumbling to find her hotel room.” The memo said that her memory of six to nine hours “was very hazy,” and that her husband was searching for her and was relieved when she finally showed up.

The following day, the woman returned home and “had a moment of hazy memory of being raped the night before, and had a panic attack,” the memo said.

The woman then went to the emergency room, where she received a rape-kit examination that “was positive for semen,” the memo said. The woman gave county authorities a statement about what happened, according to the memo sent to the transition team.

Her statement has not been publicly released. The city of Monterey said in a statement Thursday that its police department investigated a sexual assault allegation against Hegseth, with no charges filed. The friend of Jane Doe wrote in the memo that she had been in the presence of the woman at various events for 15 years and had “never known her to be irresponsible, drunk, or ever of questionable character.”

The "defense" would be enough to sink the nomination in most normal administrations, but in MAGA world nothing matters except loyalty to one man.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5635740&forum_id=2...id#48348406)

“Witnesses stated that Mr. Hegseth was visibly intoxicated but the Complainant was not, as she led him by the arm to his hotel room,” the statement from Hegseth’s lawyer said. He said that video surveillance confirmed the two were walking “with arms locked together” and that the woman was smiling.

According to Hegseth’s lawyer, once the two were in his hotel room, the woman did not leave and was “the aggressor in initiating sexual activity.”

After the encounter, the woman “expressed concern because she had not gone back to her room,” according to Hegseth’s lawyer. Hegseth told police that she planned to tell her husband she had fallen asleep on the couch in another guest’s room, according to the statement.

Hegseth’s lawyer also alleged that the medical examination of the woman “produced no evidence that the sexual contact was nonconsensual” and that a police investigation found no evidence to support charging Hegseth.

The woman’s friend said in her memo to transition officials that she believed no charges were brought because the woman “could not recall all the details” and it became a “he said, she said” situation.

Dean Flippo, the Monterey County district attorney at the time of the incident, said in an interview Saturday that he had no recollection of the allegations. He said he had never heard Hegseth’s name until he read the news of his potential nomination for the Pentagon job.

“I just have no recollection of the incident at all and hadn’t heard the name before,” he said.

Flippo, who ran the office for nearly 30 years until January 2019, said he would counsel his staff to alert him if a case had the potential to become high-profile, such as allegations involving Hollywood stars. “I would hope my staff would see that if something had the potential of publicity that they would let me know so we could prepare to handle that. But I just have no recollection of that in this instance,” he said.

Flippo, now in his mid 80s, said the office took allegations of sexual assault seriously, collected as much evidence as possible and tried cases it thought it could prove. “Is there proof beyond a reasonable doubt? That’s what we have as a responsibility in our business. That’s what goes into the question of do we go ahead.”

The current district attorney, Jeannine Pacioni, did not respond to a request for comment.

Sometime after the incident, the woman and her husband hired a lawyer “to ensure Hegseth didn’t get off without punishment,” according to the memo sent to the transition team. Hegseth’s lawyer proposed they sign a nondisclosure agreement, the details of which have not been made public, the memo said. The agreement was signed about 2½ years after the alleged assault, Hegseth’s lawyer said.

Hegseth’s attorney said that two years after the incident the woman “began to make noise” about filing a lawsuit, prompting Hegseth’s attorney to send a cease-and-desist letter.

Parlatore provided a copy of that letter to The Post, dated Feb. 2, 2020, with the recipient’s name redacted, in which he wrote that “should you choose to proceed with the filing of a frivolous lawsuit against my client, my client has directed our firm to pursue all available remedies against you.” The letter went on to say: “Both you and Mr. Hegseth have spouses, families and children that you undoubtedly both love very much and a public fight is not in anyone’s best interest — especially in a case like this where both the law and the facts are against.”

In December 2020, the woman hired a lawyer who entered into negotiations about the matter, Hegseth’s lawyer said. In his statement, the lawyer said that “Hegseth strongly felt that he was the victim of blackmail and innocent collateral damage in a lie that the Complainant was holding onto to keep her marriage intact.”

However, “knowing that it was the height of the MeToo movement,” Hegseth “ultimately decided to enter into a settlement for a significantly reduced amount.” The statement did not specify the requested or reduced amount, or when it was paid.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5635740&forum_id=2...id#48348427)

And why is a man of character with kids fucking married women in hotel rooms

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5635740&forum_id=2...id#48348885)

According to the memo, Jane Doe “didn’t remember anything until she was in Hegseth’s hotel room and then stumbling to find her hotel room.” The memo said that her memory of six to nine hours “was very hazy,” and that her husband was searching for her and was relieved when she finally showed up.

The following day, the woman returned home and “had a moment of hazy memory of being raped the night before, and had a panic attack,” the memo said.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5635740&forum_id=2...id#48348844)

one weird trick

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5635740&forum_id=2...id#48349265)

Am a bit pissed at Trump losing so much goodwill so quickly. Agree the agencies need substantial reform but led by these two? What you want is subtle, unobtrusive and ruthless. These guys ain't it.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5635740&forum_id=2...id#48349447)

hegseth isn't going anywhere, btw. he'll be confirmed.

gaetz will end up somewhere.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5635740&forum_id=2...id#48349479)

I am 100% on the side that major structural reform needs to happen and the corruption and rot at the heart of DOJ and other agencies need to be rooted out. But by Gaetz and Hesgeth? No evidence Trump did any proper vetting and he's going to waste enormous capital trying to get them confirmed.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5635740&forum_id=2...id#48349521)

The whole idea is that the deputy attorney general will be the adult doing the actual lawyering, and Gaetz will be the dude settling scores for Trump and holding press conferences to humiliate his enemies even more.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5635740&forum_id=2...id#48349540)