Another sexual scandal in the Trump team. The candidate who should lead the Pentagon, accused of rape

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Another sexual scandal has emerged around another candidate of the US president-elect, Donald Trump, for one of the country’s key positions. Pete Hegseth, who was nominated by Trump to lead the Department of Defense, is accused of rape.

According to NBC News, according to a California police report, in October 2017, a woman filed a sexual assault complaint against Pete Hegseth. She stated that after the California Republican Women’s Convention, Pete Hegseth took her phone, prevented her from leaving her hotel room and raped her. Documents released by the Monterey Police Department show that the woman has little recollection of the incident and believes that some kind of drug was spiked into her drink.

According to the complainant, during the conference she had an argument with Ghegseth, a guest speaker at the event, because she “didn’t like the way he treated women”. In his view, this argument led to retaliation from Ghegseth, who allegedly slipped a substance into her drink and raped her.

Pete Hegseth was not charged at the time and denies any wrongdoing. His attorney, Timothy Parlatore, said surveillance footage from the Monterey Hotel, where the woman met Gagset, as well as police interviews with other people at the hotel proved the Republican’s innocence.

“This police report confirms exactly what I’ve been saying all along. The incident was fully investigated and police found the allegations to be false, so no charges were filed,” the deputy told NBC News on Thursday.

What the police say

The police did not give reasons why they did not charge Ghegseth. The report states that they studied the events of that evening on the hotel’s surveillance cameras and interviewed witnesses, including the plaintiff’s husband and the doctor she went to a few days later for a sexual assault examination, as well as Ghegseth himself.

The Republican admitted to having sex with the woman in his hotel room, but insisted it was consensual and that he made sure she did not object.

The current candidate for the post of head of the Pentagon said that the woman “came into his room and did not want to leave.”

The allegations came to light late last week when Hughes confirmed he had paid a certain amount as part of a plea deal with his accuser. The MP said that “Pete Hegseth clearly understood that he was the victim of blackmail and lies which the complainant resorted to in order to preserve her marriage”.

The lawyer added that amid the #MeToo movement, Hegseth “ultimately decided to settle for a much smaller amount.”

In a statement last week, Trump’s communications director, Stephen Chang, said Hegseth “strongly denies any allegations” and that Trump is “selecting the best and most qualified candidates to serve in his administration.”

On Thursday, the Pentagon chief told reporters he was eagerly awaiting his confirmation. And when asked if he sexually assaulted a woman in Monterey, he said the case had been fully investigated, he had been fully exonerated, and he was “not going to let it go.”

Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News anchor, is one of three nominees to join Trump’s new cabinet who have already faced serious allegations of sexual misconduct.

Matt Goetz, a candidate for US attorney general accused of sexual misconduct, whose nomination has angered many Republicans, has withdrawn his candidacy, explaining that he does not want to complicate the work of the new administration.