section_path: Personal life/Abuse and sexual assault allegations
section_name: Abuse and sexual assault allegations
paragraph_text: Abuse and sexual assault allegations
  
  You are an abuser of women — that is the ugly truth and I have no respect for any man that belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around, and uses women for his own power and ego. You are that man (and have been for years)
  
  In November 2024, Vanity Fair reported that Hegseth had allegedly sexually assaulted a woman at the Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel and Spa on Del Monte Golf Course in Monterey, California, in October 2017, when he was scheduled to speak at the California Federation of Republican Women convention. According to the Monterey Police Department, Hegseth was investigated in connection with two incidents of sexual assault that occurred shortly before midnight and 7 a.m. the following morning. He was not criminally charged. The Washington Post reported that Hegseth had paid the accuser as part of a non-disclosure agreement after she threatened litigative action in 2020. In addition, the paper obtained a memorandum provided to Donald Trump's presidential transition team by an associate of the accuser, a 30-year-old conservative group staffer, that alleged that Hegseth raped her. Hegseth's lawyer, Timothy Parlatore, later confirmed the reports, but said that the staffer was attempting to extort Hegseth, a purported "victim of blackmail and innocent collateral damage", during the #MeToo movement, risking his career. The Associated Press reported in January 2025 that Hegseth had paid her US$50,000.
  
  Records released by the Monterey Police Department later that month provided additional details on the incident. The accuser told police that she had confronted Hegseth, who informed her that he was a "nice guy", after he had acted "inappropriately" with women at the event. She recalled being in an undisclosed room with Hegseth, who allegedly took her phone and blocked the door, where he then allegedly raped her. The accuser said that "things got fuzzy" and told a nurse days later that she had believed she had been drugged. Hegseth told police that he had sought to ensure she was comfortable. Video surveillance footage showed Hegseth and the accuser walking, with her smiling. Two women who were interviewed by police stated that Hegseth had put his hand on their thighs and asked them to go to his hotel room, with one woman saying that she had asked the accuser to get him off of her. According to CNN, the accuser went to a hospital to report a sexual assault and obtained a rape kit test in the emergency room. The rape kit exam served as the impetus for the Monterey Police Department's investigation. Hegseth told police that he did have sex with the woman but that it was consensual. Monterey County district attorney Jeannine M. Pacioni declined to file charges in January 2018, saying that proof beyond a reasonable doubt was not established.
  
  In November 2024, The New York Times obtained an email from Hegseth's mother, Penny, from April 2018, accusing her son of having mistreated women for years. After the Times ' s reporting, Penny told the paper that she had "immediately apologized in a separate email" and that her words were written "in anger, with emotion". She defended her son on Fox News, saying he was "redeemed, forgiven, changed." In January 2025, NBC News reported that Samantha's sister Danielle had sent an affidavit to senators alleging that he had made his wife concerned for her safety, with Samantha said to have once hid in a closet and to have formed an escape plan that was once used. Hegseth's lawyer Parlatore dismissed the allegations.
  
  You are an abuser of women — that is the ugly truth and I have no respect for any man that belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around, and uses women for his own power and ego. You are that man (and have been for years)
  
  In November 2024, Vanity Fair reported that Hegseth had allegedly sexually assaulted a woman at the Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel and Spa on Del Monte Golf Course in Monterey, California, in October 2017, when he was scheduled to speak at the California Federation of Republican Women convention. According to the Monterey Police Department, Hegseth was investigated in connection with two incidents of sexual assault that occurred shortly before midnight and 7 a.m. the following morning. He was not criminally charged. The Washington Post reported that Hegseth had paid the accuser as part of a non-disclosure agreement after she threatened litigative action in 2020. In addition, the paper obtained a memorandum provided to Donald Trump's presidential transition team by an associate of the accuser, a 30-year-old conservative group staffer, that alleged that Hegseth raped her. Hegseth's lawyer, Timothy Parlatore, later confirmed the reports, but said that the staffer was attempting to extort Hegseth, a purported "victim of blackmail and innocent collateral damage", during the #MeToo movement, risking his career. The Associated Press reported in January 2025 that Hegseth had paid her US$50,000.
  
  Records released by the Monterey Police Department later that month provided additional details on the incident. The accuser told police that she had confronted Hegseth, who informed her that he was a "nice guy", after he had acted "inappropriately" with women at the event. She recalled being in an undisclosed room with Hegseth, who allegedly took her phone and blocked the door, where he then allegedly raped her. The accuser said that "things got fuzzy" and told a nurse days later that she had believed she had been drugged. Hegseth told police that he had sought to ensure she was comfortable. Video surveillance footage showed Hegseth and the accuser walking, with her smiling. Two women who were interviewed by police stated that Hegseth had put his hand on their thighs and asked them to go to his hotel room, with one woman saying that she had asked the accuser to get him off of her. According to CNN, the accuser went to a hospital to report a sexual assault and obtained a rape kit test in the emergency room. The rape kit exam served as the impetus for the Monterey Police Department's investigation. Hegseth told police that he did have sex with the woman but that it was consensual. Monterey County district attorney Jeannine M. Pacioni declined to file charges in January 2018, saying that proof beyond a reasonable doubt was not established.
  
  In November 2024, The New York Times obtained an email from Hegseth's mother, Penny, from April 2018, accusing her son of having mistreated women for years. After the Times ' s reporting, Penny told the paper that she had "immediately apologized in a separate email" and that her words were written "in anger, with emotion". She defended her son on Fox News, saying he was "redeemed, forgiven, changed." In January 2025, NBC News reported that Samantha's sister Danielle had sent an affidavit to senators alleging that he had made his wife concerned for her safety, with Samantha said to have once hid in a closet and to have formed an escape plan that was once used. Hegseth's lawyer Parlatore dismissed the allegations.