BIG Problem: WaPo Reports Hegseth Settled with Sexual Abuse Accuser

On this it is incumbent to be exceedingly careful with language because we’re obligated to hold back assumptions while also ensuring that Peter Hegseth, the nominee for Secretary of Defense, is evaluated in light of a rape allegation – it is hard to get more serious, nor more disqualifying. Just a day after Pres.-elect Donald Trump named Hegseth, news of a possible sexual assault in 2017 surfaced as if this major issue had somehow been unknowable. It has percolated since. Now The Washington Post reports that Hegseth agreed to an undisclosed settlement with the woman, or put more bluntly – paid her off.

The settlement is important because law-enforcement chose not to charge Hegseth – who says that everything was consensual. Obviously, this is where one should be cautious. The decision to not charge the matter may be solely due to the lack of credible evidence or it could be that the woman refused to testify. We cannot know. What is knowable is that this is the last thing the folks at Mar-a-Lago wanted to read this weekend. As reported in the WaPo:

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, paid a woman who accused him of sexual assault as part of a nondisclosure agreement, though he maintained that their encounter was consensual. Hegseth’s attorney said that Hegseth was “visibly intoxicated” at the time of the incident, and maintained that police who were contacted a few days after the encounter by the woman concluded that “the Complainant had been the aggressor in the encounter.” Police have not confirmed that assertion.

The woman was the aggressor? Now that is very hard to believe. But again, it is wrong to make any conclusions except those in front of us – he paid her to step away. The unanswered questions now haunt the nomination and have pit Trump’s transition team against each other as I wrote on Saturday. Furthermore:

Hegseth agreed to pay an undisclosed amount to the woman because he feared that revelation of the matter “would result in his immediate termination from Fox,with  where he worked as a host, the statement said. The statement came after a detailed memo was sent to the Trump transition team this week by a woman who said she is a friend of the accuser. The memo, a copy of which was obtained by The Post, alleged he raped the then-30-year-old conservative group staffer in his room after drinking at a hotel bar.

Now it gets complicated. Very complicated. The fact that a friend of the alleged victim came forward with details that would presumably only be known to the woman in the matter is a major consideration. A big Trump supporter believes that what happened was so serious that she was compelled to contact Mar-a-Lago to provide specifics.

Obviously, if the attack occurred it would be disqualifying. Furthermore, the transition team must also consider how the memo reached the WaPo. It may have leaked from the inside or it may have been given directly to the paper – either way, the memo’s legitimacy was at least confirmed by the transition team, meaning there is a leak somewhere. The problem is big enough and now they have to worry that more details may come in to a leaky ship, ensuring that Hegseth is finished before even getting to the Senate. It sounds like he certainly believed that Fox News would terminate him if she came forward.

No wonder there are reports that the transition team is fighting among themselves over what are apparently unplanned nominations, ones that were never vetted. The Hegseth matter will always come down to who should be believed – and he believed that he needed to pay her. But there are some certainties, the biggest of which from a purely political standpoint is that this is a massive unforced error. Consider the amount of time the transition has already spent battling this back instead of breezily going forward for a triumphant return to the White House.

As if it all needs further complication, Donald Trump is the type who digs in rather than cut losses. There are hundreds of very loyal fellow Republicans ready to run the Pentagon and they’re still out there. Some were actually vetted by the campaign. Why this continues to happen is an utter mystery. Hegseth should at least offer to withdraw from consideration. Loyalty goes one way in this dynamic. Hegseth could make things infinitely easier by at least giving Trump the option of a graceful exit, an easy fix.

As for the transition team and Trump himself – the smart thing to do is to say that upon further investigation they will go another direction and then wait – a while, for things to settle down. But that isn’t the baseline, and that means this will likely get much uglier. Hegseth was going to have enough trouble in the Senate and who knows what else might arise between now and then. There is no rule saying that this must have been an isolated incident. Perhaps other allegations arise. Probably not but if you were charged with getting everyone in place with the least amount of damage would you trust that you know enough?

There is also the fact that Hegseth, who knew of the settlement agreement, should have turned the nomination down immediately in Trump’s best interests. Perhaps the transition team should also consider what it means that he didn’t immediately say “I don’t think you want to do this because… ”

Hegseth was a shocking choice from the gate. We will learn a lot about what to expect from the next Trump term by how they handle this matter. If they dig in on this it’s unlikely that they will care about political considerations or public controversy going forward in any context. This one is easy, just find someone else. Other decisions may be far more difficult – and yet ultimately follow the same pattern. They can dodge problems early or dig in for every inch no matter the issue.

It will be telling with respect to the internal mindset as January approaches. Wow, they could have had it so much easier on themselves…

God Bless: I can be reached at [email protected] and @JasonMiciak

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