The lawyer for Pete Hegseth has threatened legal action against a woman who accused President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary of sexual assault if she repeats what he calls “false” claims and fails to corroborate his client.
Tim Parlatore said in an interview on CNN Thursday night that the confidentiality agreement between him and Hegseth, part of the 2020 deal with the former Fox News host, is no longer in effect, and the unidentified woman who filed the police report. Alleging that Hegseth sexually assaulted her at a hotel in 2017, she is now free to speak publicly about the case.
However, Parlatore said he would consider suing the woman for civil extortion or defamation if she did things that jeopardized his client’s future in the Trump administration or “future job opportunities.”
“If he doesn’t tell the truth, if he repeats these false statements, he will be subject to a defamation lawsuit. But now, and he knows this well, his lawyer was well aware of this violation. Under the agreement that is no longer in force, he is free to speak if he wants to,” he said. the lawyer
President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth arrives for a meeting with U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst at the U.S. Capitol, December 4, 2024, in Washington.
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Connecticut Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee that would hold Hegseth’s confirmation hearings, told CNN on Thursday that the threat to sue Hegseth’s accuser is intimidating and “reprehensible.”
“What they’re doing is basically threatening or intimidating a potential witness,” he said.
Details of his allegations regarding the October 2017 incident a Monterey Police Department report released last month. At the time, the woman told investigators she met Hegseth at a California hotel party where both had been drinking.
The woman said she did not remember how she ended up in Hegseth’s room later and said he sexually assaulted her, according to the report. Hegseth “took the phone out of her hands” and, when she tried to leave, “blocked the door with her body,” she told investigators.
Hegseth told investigators the sex was consensual. No charges were filed. However in December 2020, Hegseth he paid the woman an undisclosed amount as part of a settlement because he feared his career would suffer if his allegations became public, according to Parlatore.
Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense, speaks to reporters with Sen. Mike Rounds, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 5, 2024.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
The woman, identified in the police report only as Jane Doe, has not been publicly identified.
Hegseth has repeatedly reiterated that he was not charged and has denied the allegation of assault.
He has come under fire in recent weeks for news coverage of the incident and for drinking, mismanagement, extramarital affairs and other controversies.
Trump has stood by his selection and Hegseth has ruled out whether he would withdraw.
