A written response from defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth to senators shows he paid $50,000 to the woman who accused him of sexual assault in 2017. Hegseth's attorney previously said the former Fox News host paid that settlement because he "strongly felt he was the victim of blackmail.

Pete Hegseth, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Pentagon, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that he paid $50,000 as part of a confidentiality agreement to a woman who alleged he sexually assaulted her,

The amount Pete Hegseth paid to quiet his sexual assault accuser has been revealed. According to multiple reports on Thursday, January 23, Donald Trump's defense secretary pick allegedly gave $50,000 to the woman accusing him of nonconsensual misconduct in 2017 in an effort to silence her from coming forward with her claims.