WASHINGTON — A woman told police that she was sexually assaulted in 2017 by Pete Hegseth after he took her phone, blocked the door to a California hotel room and refused to let her leave, according to a detailed investigative report made public late Wednesday. Hegseth, a former Fox News personality and President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be defense secretary, told police at the time that the encounter had been consensual and denied any wrongdoing, the report said. News of the allegations surfaced last week when local officials released a brief statement confirming that a woman had accused Hegseth of sexual assault in October 2017 after he had spoken at a Republican women’s event in Monterey. “The matter was fully investigated and I was completely cleared,” Hegseth told reporters Thursday at the Capitol, where he was meeting with senators to build support for his nomination. The report does not say that police found the allegations were false. Police recommended the case report be forwarded to the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office for review. Tim Palatore, Hegseth’s attorney, has said the woman was paid an undisclosed sum in 2023 as part of a confidential settlement to head off the threat of what he described as a baseless lawsuit. The 22-page police report was released in response to a public records request and offers the first detailed account of what the woman alleged to have transpired — one that is at odds with Hegseth’s version of events. The report cited police interviews with the alleged victim, a nurse who treated her, a hotel staffer, another woman at the event and Hegseth. The woman’s name was not released, and The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually assaulted. A spokeswoman for the Trump transition said Thursday that the “report corroborates” what Hegseth’s legal team has been saying “all along.” Investigators were first alerted to the alleged assault, the report said, by a nurse who called them after a patient requested a sexual assault exam. The patient told medical personnel she believed she was assaulted five days earlier but couldn’t remember much about what had happened. She reported something may have been slipped into her drink before ending up in the hotel room where she said the assault occurred. Police collected the unwashed dress and underwear she had worn that night, the report said. The woman’s partner, who was staying at the hotel with her, told police that he was worried about her that night after she didn’t come back to their room. At 2 a.m., he went to the hotel bar, but she wasn’t there. She made it back a few hours later, apologizing that she “must have fallen asleep.” A few days later, she told him she had been sexually assaulted. The woman, who helped organize the California Federation of Republican Women gathering at which Hegseth spoke, told police that she had witnessed the TV anchor acting inappropriately throughout the night and saw him stroking multiple women’s thighs. She texted a friend that Hegseth was giving off a “creeper” vibe, according to the report. After the event, the woman and others attended an after-party in a hotel suite where she said she confronted Hegseth, telling him that she “did not appreciate how he treated women,” the report states. A group of people, including Hegseth and the woman, decamped for the hotel’s bar. That’s when “things got fuzzy,” the woman told police. She remembered having a drink at the bar with Hegseth and others, the police report states. She also told police that she argued with Hegseth near the hotel pool, an account that is supported by a hotel staffer who was sent to handle the disturbance and spoke to police, according to the report. Soon, she told police, she was inside a hotel room with Hegseth, who took her phone and blocked the door with his body so that she could not leave, according to the report. She also told police she remembered “saying ‘no’ a lot,” the report said. Her next memory was of lying on a couch or bed with a bare-chested Hegseth hovering over her, his dog tags dangling, the report states. Hegseth served in the National Guard, rising to the rank of major. After Hegseth finished, she recalled he threw a towel at her and asked if she was “OK,” the report states. She told police she did not recall how she got back to her own hotel room and had since suffered from nightmares and memory loss. At the time of the alleged assault, Hegseth, now 44, was going through a divorce with his second wife, with whom he has three children. She filed for divorce after he had a child with a Fox News producer who is now his third wife, according to court records and social media posts by Hegseth. His first marriage ended in 2009, also after infidelity by Hegseth, according to court records. Hegseth, who joined Fox News as a contributor in 2014 before becoming co-host of “Fox & Friends Weekend,” left the network after Trump announced his intention to nominate him. Hegseth said he attended an after party and drank beer but did not consume liquor, and acknowledged being “buzzed” but not drunk. He said he met the woman at the hotel bar, and she led him by the arm back to his hotel room, which surprised him because he initially had no intention of having sex with her, the report said. Hegseth told investigators that the sexual encounter that followed was consensual, adding that he explicitly asked more than once if she was comfortable. Hegseth said in the morning the woman “showed early signs of regret,” and he assured her that he wouldn’t tell anyone about the encounter. Hegseth’s attorney said a payment was made to the woman as part of a confidential settlement a few years after the police investigation because Hegseth was concerned that she was prepared to file a lawsuit that he feared could have resulted in him being fired from Fox News, where he was a popular host. The attorney would not reveal the amount of the payment. ___ Slodysko reported from Washington and Linderman from Baltimore.Counting underway in Ireland election
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Cam Carter put LSU ahead for good with a jumper 1:08 into the third overtime and the Tigers came away with a wild 109-102 win over UCF on Sunday in the third-place game of the Greenbrier Tip-Off in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. Carter's make sparked a 5-0 spurt for LSU (5-1), which mounted a ferocious second-half rally that began after Darius Johnson drilled a 3-pointer to put the Knights up 52-34 with 12:57 to play in regulation. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.
The Fort William BIA has a very clear message for the City of Thunder Bay and its proposed temporary shelter village. “Stop this project and leave it to the experts,” said Aldo Ruberto, chairman of the Fort William BIA. The former councillor was joined by seven local business owners to address their opposition to the development of a temporary homeless village in the south core. City administration is recommending a Miles Street lot for 80 small housing units as an alternative for those living in tents at encampments in the city. Tony DiPaolo, owner of Armani’s and vice chairman of the BIA (business improvement area), explained how members of the BIA researched success numbers of similar villages in Peterborough and Kitchener — Ontario cities that Thunder Bay is modelling its village on. They found that in a period of four to six years of operating the villages, six people have transitioned into permanent housing in Kitchener and one person, of 50, transitioned in Peterborough. “As we looked into it more, we found a lot of holes in their modelling,” DiPaolo said. Ruberto says the success is not there. “If we’re going to have solutions, let’s have long-term solutions. Let’s do things that will take care of the people. And if you want to spend money, spend it on addiction centres and counselling. That’s where the real help is required — with mental health” he said. “The bottom line is the City is not an expert in this area. They need to leave it to the experts.” DiPaolo said the $40,000 allocation to the BIA from the City to offset security and revitalization concerns is “nice, and would help the BIA members. . . . But there’s a bigger issue and it’s not worth us taking $40,000 when this could be financially impacting on the whole area for years to come.” The BIA spent $40,000 on cleaning and security last year, according to DiPaolo. He also said the BIA asked how the City will get people to transition into long-term housing. “(The City) told us they’ll have metrics, they’ll look into it, they’ll analyze it,” he said. “But there isn’t really a plan yet. As business owners and area residents, the biggest concern is when you start bringing in an influx of more people, there are some side effects. There’s additional garbage on the street, there are additional encampments in lanes, and additional people and unfortunately, drug use. This scares area residents and businesses.” Ruberto said the BIA asked the City about other possible locations for the village and were told the City would keep those sites for future development. “With the millions of dollars we’re spending on revitalizing the downtown core, how does this attract new businesses, new opportunities for people that want to come in the core area? Is that what (the City) is telling the people and the businesses in the south core? That there is no future development down here?” Ruberto added that the District of Thunder Bay Social Services Administration Board will receive $16.2 million a year for the next three years, thanks to the provincial and federal governments. They have created more shelter spaces for the demand that might come up in the winter. “It’s fantastic. That’s what happens with social services and most agencies — if there’s a demand, they’ll step up. The federal government and the provincial government will also step up.” Ruberto also called the City’s (proposed village) survey “flawed” because there was “no room on the survey for someone to object to the project.” “They said you have two choices: here or there — not another choice that says we don’t agree with the project or the location,” Ruberto pointed out. “Of the people that are impacted directly in the area, 100 per cent are against it, but people that live on the other side of the city or live outside the city fill out surveys online and say, ‘Yeah, we support it because it doesn’t affect us.’” He said council is in a jam and want a quick solution. “And I get that, and I understand that, because people are sympathetic, empathetic, and want these people (safely) off the streets.”President-elect Donald Trump's endorsement of Karrin Taylor Robson for Arizona governor has set off a storm within the state's GOP, particularly among its more conservative members, as reported by the Arizona Capitol Times . At Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest, Trump expressed his support despite Robson not having officially entered the race, declaring from the stage, "You’re going to have my support." Robson quickly showed gratitude for the endorsement on social media, but not all responses mirrored her enthusiasm; MAGA figures and state lawmakers quickly voiced their dissent—State Sen. Jake Hoffman criticized an unknown Trump "consultant or staffer" for suggesting the endorsement, citing Robson's loss in the 2022 GOP primary as evidence of Arizona’s rejection of her policies, while State Rep. Jacqueline Parker suggested Trump should "stay out of our statewide races", as per their statements on social media shared by the Phoenix New Times . Even Laura Loomer, a media personality with close ties to Trump, joined the chorus of disapproval, questioning why Trump would endorse Robson, who had supported political figures perceived as opposed to Trump's platform, including "Trump hater Chris Christie". Robson's continued political engagement within the GOP and her previous stance on providing in-state tuition for DACA students complicates her alignment within the party's various factions; she also drew the ire of the state GOP when she endorsed an independent over a conservative Republican in a city council race, which led to her being stripped of voting rights as a precinct committeewoman, as reported by Phoenix New Times . The endorsement, while divisive, has not been unanimously rejected within the party—Congressman Juan Ciscomani congratulated Robson on the Trump nod, whilst state Rep. Travis Grantham labeled the endorsement "outstanding" claiming Robson as quite conservative and capable of winning against Gov. (Katie) Hobbs, “She can win,” in what appears an effort to secure a viable GOP candidate for the state's governorship despite internal conflict also Grantham didn't hesitate to draw parallels between past party affiliations of notable Republicans such as Reagan and Trump, which might suggest an openness to shifting political identities, as stated by Arizona Capitol Times . Scoping the broader picture, potential candidates for the governor's seat remain unannounced, and while Robson's decision to run is still to be confirmed, her self-funded campaign expenditure of over $23 million in 2022 indicates both a considerable resource pool and a willingness to invest heavily in pursuit of office, setting the stage for a contentious primary should she choose to run, as per Arizona Capitol Times .