The Hegseth accusation caught Trump's transition staff off guard.

According to two people familiar with the matter, President-elect Donald Trump's transition team was in the midst of announcing new Cabinet members this week when they learned of a sexual assault accusation against one of his prior picks, Pete Hegseth. This shocking news shocked a number of Trump's team members who have since questioned the validity of his nomination.

After evaluating the veteran-turned-Fox News personality for just a few days and conducting minimal internal due diligence, Trump declared he was selecting Hegseth as his next secretary of defense. The heads of Trump's transition team received a complaint about Hegseth's alleged sexual assault within 48 hours.

Information that the campaign received supports what Monterey, California, police said was an investigation into "an alleged sexual assault” involving Hegseth on October 8, 2017.

According to images of the event shared on Facebook, Hegseth was a speaker at a conference hosted by the California Federation of Republican Women at a hotel at the time of the alleged attack. Since 2017, Hegseth has not been identified as a defendant in any civil complaint or charged in any criminal case filed in Monterey County, and his lawyer has denied any misconduct.


However, a source informed CNN that Hegseth was questioned by incoming chief of staff Susie Wiles on Thursday over the phone due to the gravity of the accusations. Wiles questioned Hegseth about any other concerns the squad should be mindful of going forward.

Prior to his announcement, Hegseth was never screened by an independent company. Without providing specifics, some former Trump employees who briefly considered Hegseth to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs during his last term in office pointed out that the opportunity was brief for similar reasons.

The president-elect and the transition team were proceeding with the nomination at this point, according to one source, despite the surprise.

However, the accusation has only made Hegseth's already precarious appointment to lead the biggest federal agency, which employs millions of civilians and military personnel and has a budget of more than $800 billion, more tense in the days that have followed. Whether Hegseth will finally withdraw his own nomination was a topic of widespread debate in Trump's inner circle on Friday. A number of people expressed anxiety that additional bad information might be revealed.

Both Pentagon officials and the former president's own supporters were taken aback by the president-elect's selection of Hegseth, a candidate with no prior experience in top military or public office, as his secretary of defense this week.

In an earlier statement to CNN, however, Trump's communications director defended Hegseth, stating that he "has vigorously denied any and all accusations, and no charges were filed."

Steven Cheung stated, "We are eager for him to be confirmed as the Secretary of Defense of the United States so he can begin his mission to Make America Safe and Great Again on Day One."