Once settled sexual assault allegations surface against Trump’s defense pick

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Sunday. I’m your host, Andrew J. Campa. Here’s what you need to know to start your weekend:

• Once settled sexual assault allegations surface against Trump’s defense pick.
• Women make up nearly half of the California Legislature.
• Some California suburbs refuse to fix quake vulnerable buildings.
• And here’s today’s e-newspaper

Police report details a late night of drinking, followed by a sexual assault allegation

A nurse at Kaiser Permanente called the Monterey Police Department to report that a patient had come in for a sexual assault exam on an October afternoon in 2017.

The woman said she had been sexually assaulted four days earlier while at a Republican women’s conference at the Hyatt Regency Hotel and Spa in the coastal California resort town, the nurse told police.

The alleged assailant was a popular Fox News channel host and the keynote speaker at the conference.

The nurse referred the woman to an emergency room for a sexual assault forensic exam. That call triggered a law enforcement probe that included interviews with hotel staff, a review of surveillance video, discussions with several of the woman’s associates and a conversation with the alleged perpetrator, Pete Hegseth, who told police the encounter had been consensual.

No charges were ever filed. Monterey County Dist. Atty. Jeannine M. Pacioni said no charges were supported by proof beyond a reasonable doubt. The two parties eventually reached a private settlement, after which the accuser signed a nondisclosure agreement.

The story seemed to end there — until Donald Trump nominated Hegseth to be defense secretary. Now that night in Monterey has become the centerpiece in what could be one of the most contentious confirmation fights in years.

What do we know?

My colleagues Hannah Fry, Jessica Garrison and Richard Winton read through the police report that offered a viewpoint into what happened that evening at the California Federation of Republican Women conference in Monterey.

Shortly after Hegseth’s nomination, a friend of the woman wrote a memo to Trump’s transition team saying that Hegseth had raped the then-30-year-old conservative group staffer in his hotel room in the early morning hours.

In response, Hegseth confirmed the financial settlement, saying through his lawyer that he had agreed to pay the woman to protect his job at Fox. But he vehemently denied committing assault.

“The matter was fully investigated, and I was completely cleared, and that’s where I’m gonna leave it,” Hegseth told reporters at the Capitol on Thursday.

Police report details lead up to the incident

The Monterey Police Department released a redacted 22-page report detailing its investigation, including accounts of the recollections of the woman, referred to as Jane Doe, and Hegseth, along with several other attendees. Though police reports are typically not public in California, the document had been released because Hegseth had previously asked for a copy.

The police report offers the most complete picture yet of what occurred at the Monterey hotel on Oct. 7 and 8.

On the second day of the three-day gathering, Doe took a break in her hotel room where she was staying with her husband and at least one of her small children before the banquet dinner and keynote speech began at 6 p.m., according to text messages and sources with knowledge of the event.

After the banquet, the woman went to an after-party in another federation member’s hotel suite, where she had a glass of Champagne. Hegseth was there too. A federation member who was there told police later that the woman “did not seem intoxicated, but had a buzz” at the event.

Around midnight, Doe, Hegseth and a second woman walked toward Knuckles, the hotel’s sports bar. Doe texted her husband an update, saying she was headed to the bar with a group of ladies. “Omg I have so much to tell you. This Pete dude is a ... toooool,” she wrote.

Doe told police that her memory started to get “fuzzy” while she was at the bar.

Around 1:30 a.m., Doe argued with Hegseth near the hotel pool about his behavior with women at the conference. He responded that he was a “nice guy,” according to the report. She later told investigators that Hegseth would rub women on their legs and she thought his actions were inappropriate.

Doe placed her hand and arm on Hegseth’s back and escorted him toward the building where his room was, a hotel employee told police.

Around 2 a.m. Doe’s husband went looking for her at Knuckles but no one was there, he told investigators.

Two differing stories about the same event

(Warning: The following description includes graphic details that some may find disturbing.) Doe next recalled being in a hotel room alone with Hegseth. She had her phone in her hand and Hegseth asked her who she was texting before taking her phone, she told police. She tried to leave the room, according to the report, but Hegseth blocked the door. She remembered saying “no” a lot, she told police.

Her next memory, she told police, was lying on a bed or couch with Hegseth’s dog tags hovering over her face. She said he ejaculated on her stomach, threw a towel at her and said to “clean it up” before asking her whether she was OK, according to the report.

Hegseth recalled the situation differently.

He told police that Doe led him to his hotel room, where things progressed between the two of them, according to the report. There was “always” conversation and “always” consensual contact between himself and Doe, he told police.

Hegseth recalled Doe displaying “early signs of regret” after the incident and said she would tell her husband she fell asleep on a couch in someone else’s room, according to the report.

Around 4 a.m., Doe returned to her hotel room and explained to her husband that she “must have fallen asleep.” She told police she didn’t start remembering what happened between her and Hegseth until she returned home the next day.

For more details, check out the full story, which will likely remain in the spotlight as Hegseth’s confirmation progresses.

The week’s biggest stories

(Los Angeles Times; Handout)

California elections

• Women make up nearly half of the California Legislature, setting a new record in Sacramento.
• Laura Richardson completes a political comeback, winning a tight race to represent South L.A. in the California Capitol.

Trump, the election and his appointments

• Biggest lesson from my four decades of covering politics: Prepare to be surprised.
• Trump taps a Fox News personality, a surgeon and a former congressman to lead public health agencies.
• Trump names hedge fund manager Scott Bessent as Treasury secretary, announces other picks.
• After Matt Gaetz withdraws as attorney general choice, Trump names another Florida loyalist.
• What to know about Pam Bondi, Trump’s new pick for attorney general.
• Judge delays sentencing in Trump’s felony conviction, asks both sides about next steps.

Crime, courts and policing

• After years of limbo in L.A., 836-pound Bahia Emerald may return to Brazil.
• Southern California school counselor charged with molesting eight elementary students.
• Sun Valley residents endured a methane leak for years. Now L.A. will pay them $60 million.
• A grisly discovery in a burning Lancaster home: 19-year-old arrested in fatal shooting of 4.

Rain and environmental issues

• Two rounds of rain expected to hit Southern California: What to know.
• California water agency considers spending $141 million on Delta tunnel project.
• The Mountain fire was the third most destructive wildfire in a decade. These maps show why.
• California atmospheric river brings record rain, major mudslide risk.
• Magnitude 3.8 earthquake shakes Malibu, L.A.’s Westside.

More big stories

• California infant dies from listeria amid outbreak tied to ready-to-eat meat products.
• ‘It’s Hollywood magic’: Filming for a movie in a downtown L.A. high-rise building spurs 911 calls.
• Ancient meets modern as a new subway in Greece showcases archaeological treasures.
• Man installing Christmas lights in Escondido dies after being electrocuted.
• Need a creative alternative to Black Friday? Look to L.A.’s museum stores.
• Burning tree in South Los Angeles leads firefighters to a grim discovery.

Get unlimited access to the Los Angeles Times. Subscribe here.

Column One

Column One is The Times’ home for narrative and longform journalism. Here’s a great piece from this week:

(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)

When James Sears came back to work in the Los Angeles Mall in the fall of 2022, he hoped he wouldn’t be alone. He had been away from his shoe repair shop for a year and a half. The mall, across the street from City Hall in the Civic Center, was a wasteland, its walkways empty, the food court and most restaurants locked or boarded up. Except for some palms and other trees, the landscaping had been reduced to dirt. The fountains were dry.

More great reads

• Column: These young Latinos backed Derek Tran in a race where every vote is crucial.
• Democrats rally behind first out transgender member of Congress, decry Republican attacks.
• A terminally ill prisoner didn’t want his gang to die with him. So he wrote.
• The ‘Love Boat’ faces a tragic ending in a lonely California slough.
• ‘Why do we need to rush?’ California’s Lake County may have the nation’s slowest elections department.
• Phillips 66 faces federal charges over alleged wastewater dumping at Carson refinery.

How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com.

For your weekend

(Illustrations by Lindsey Made This / For The Times; photograph by Brian de Rivera Simon / Getty Images)

Going out

• 🌯 Guadalajara native and “The Lincoln Lawyer” star Manuel García-Rulfo gives us a tour of his “Sunday Funday,” starting with burritos.
• 💐 This a great weekend to get familiar with Los Angeles’ Flower District. Here’s our guide.
• 👣Palos Verdes is known for its vistas, natural beauty and safe, walkable trails. We’ve got five worth a trot.

Staying in

• 🍿 Feeling like something familiar? Turn Sunday into your own John Hughes film festival with these three classics.
• 🎛️ Los Angeles’ own Kendrick Lamar released a surprise album this weekend as prepares for his Super Bowl halftime routine.
• 🧑‍🍳 Health and science reporter Corinne Purtill has a family secret to share: a recipe for a century old Nocino Negroni.
• ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, Sudoku, word search and arcade games.

L.A. Affairs

Get wrapped up in tantalizing stories about dating, relationships and marriage.

(Franco Zacha / For The Times)

Taylor valued her male friends and kept in contact with her ex, but was missing a partner in her life. So, she joined a climbing gym hoping to capture a stag. Once there, she found her “dreamboat climber man,” who propelled her to new heights. However, he said she had many “red flags,” in the form of those male friends. Will Taylor drop her friends in favor of her lover or find another man to summit with?

Have a great weekend, from the Essential California team

Andrew J. Campa, reporter
Carlos Lozano, news editor

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