Hegseth has maintained that a 2017 encounter was consensual but paid the unnamed woman as part of a nondisclosure agreement.

A woman, who has not been identified in media reports, accused Hegseth of sexually assaulting her on Oct. 7, 2017, at the Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel and Spa, where Hegseth was speaking at a California Federation of Republican Women event the accuser allegedly attended, The Washington Post and New York Times reported.

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