Pete Hegseth told Sen. Elizabeth Warren he paid $50,000 to woman who accused him of sexual assault


Pete Hegseth told Sen. Elizabeth Warren he paid $50,000 to woman who accused him of sexual assault

By Cristina Corujo, Kaia Hubbard, Caitlin Yilek Updated on: January 23, 2025 / 8:11 PM EST / CBS News Washington — Pete Hegseth, President Trump's nominee to lead the Defense Department, told Sen. Elizabeth Warren that he paid $50,000 to a woman who accused him of sexually assaulting her in 2017, two sources familiar with the matter confirmed to CBS News. Hegseth has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and said the encounter with the woman in a Monterey, California, hotel was consensual. He made the disclosure in answering written questions posed to him by the Massachusetts Democrat during the vetting process for his confirmation. The Associated Press first reported the news. In a December interview with SiriusXM's "The Megyn Kelly Show," Hegseth said he paid his accuser "because I had to — or at least I thought I did at the time." He said that he was newly married, and under consideration for a role in the first Trump administration and wanted to protect his family and his Fox News job. He declined at that time to disclose the amount he paid.