His choice for defense secretary, Fox News host Pete Hegseth, is facing allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman in 2017 and then paid her a settlement. A separate report also accuses Hegseth of being an extremist during his time in the National Guard.

Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, was involved in a police investigation into an alleged sexual assault in 2017, local officials in California confirmed Thursday night.

Hegseth paid a woman who accused him of sexual assault to head off the threat of a baseless lawsuit, according to his lawyer.

Hegseth's attorney says he is "completely innocent" and the woman who accused him "was the aggressor." Trump is standing behind him.

The former Fox News host wasn't charged in the investigation conducted by Monterey, California, police in October 2017.

A woman told Monterey police that Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump's pick for Defense secretary, blocked her from leaving his room and sexually assaulted her.

Revelations of an alleged sexual assault involving Pete Hegseth, Trump's pick for Defense secretary, at a meeting of Republican women in 2017 have set off a firestorm.

The Fox News host and the woman who accused him of sexual assault were in Monterey for the 2017 California Federation of Republican Women biennial conference

The woman who accused then-Fox News host of sexual assault in 2017 said that she "remembered saying 'no' a lot," according to a police report. Hegseth is President-elect Donald Trump's choice for Secretary of Defense.

Pete Hegseth, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary, has denied a sexual assault allegation from a 2017 complaint in the U.S. state of California.