FBI did not interview woman who accused Pete Hegseth of sexual assault in 2017: Sources
The FBI's probe into defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth did not include an interview with a woman who accused the former Fox News anchor of sexual assault in 2017, sources familiar with the situation told ABC News.
The top senators on the Armed Services Committee were briefed on the FBI's background investigation last week but sources said investigators did not speak to the accuser.
A police report previously obtained by ABC News, stated that a woman -- who is identified only as Jane Doe -- told investigators in October 2017 that she had encountered Hegseth at an event afterparty at a California hotel where both had been drinking and claimed that he sexually assaulted her.
No charges were filed, although Hegseth subsequently paid the woman as part of a settlement agreement, which Hegseth's attorney, Tim Parlatore, said was only because Hegseth feared his career would suffer if her allegations were made public.
The agreement stated that Hegseth made no admission of wrongdoing in the matter. Parlatore said Hegseth was the victim of "blackmail" and "false claims of sexual assault" by an unidentified woman after a Republican women's convention in California on Oct. 7, 2017.
The circumstances around the FBI's lack of an interview with the woman are unclear.
Hegseth has said the encounter was consensual and that he denied any wrongdoing and welcomed the FBI's work. He wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal in December, saying that "the press is peddling anonymous story after anonymous story, all meant to smear me and tear me down."
"It's a textbook manufactured media takedown. They provide no evidence, no names, and they ignore the legions of people who speak on my behalf. They need to create a bogeyman, because they believe I threaten their institutional insanity," he wrote in the op-ed at the time.
As ABC News previously reported, the FBI questioned several individuals in Hegseth's past about his alleged extramarital affairs, his character and his relationship with alcohol.
Some witnesses contacted by the FBI did not respond, according to multiple sources familiar with background outreach and other sources briefed on the process.
The Armed Services Committee is expected to hold Hegseth's confirmation hearing on Tuesday, ahead of President-elect Trump's inauguration.
