(New York Post) Defense Secretary-designee Pete Hegseth is demanding a file from the Monterey County, Calif., district attorney’s office that his legal team believes may contain additional exonerating information about a 2017 sexual assault allegation against him, The Post can reveal.
The records request comes as some Democrats continue to cast doubt on the former Fox News personality’s innocence despite the release of a police file with details contradicting his accuser’s account.
The memorandum underpinning the decision not to prosecute Hegseth is believed to describe an earlier allegation of sexual misconduct made by the same woman in a different jurisdiction, Hegseth attorney Tim Parlatore said.
“As part of our investigation, we received credible information indicating that she may have made a similar false allegation against another man in the past and the DA may have relied upon this as part of their determination, in addition to other witnesses who contradicted her story,” Parlatore told The Post.
The Monterey County DA’s office, led by elected district attorney Jeannine Pacioni, on Friday declined to provide the documentation in response to a request from Parlatore — saying in its reply that “[t]he records you request are exempt from disclosure.”
“Your request for memoranda contains the opinions, conclusions, impressions, legal research and/or legal theories of the handling attorney[s]. These constitute core work product and are exempt from disclosure under the Public Records Act,” says the reply signed by Pacioni and her chief assistant Berkley Brannon.
Parlatore is appealing the denial.
It’s possible that Senate Republicans, who will retake the upper chamber in January, will subpoena the document, but that step could slow his confirmation.
Democrats have suggested that the top Pentagon pick may not have been cleared of wrongdoing — with some pointing out that Hegseth reached a financial arrangement with the woman to not air what he says would have been false allegations.
