Hannity claims Pete Hegseth was ‘fully exonerated’ of sexual assault as Trump nominee makes Fox News return

Welcoming back his old Fox News colleague Pete Hegseth on Monday night, Sean Hannity declared that the former Fox & Friends host had been “fully exonerated” of rape accusations and that the alleged sexual encounter was “consensual.”

Continuing his media blitz to save his nomination as defense secretary, the embattled Hegseth appeared on Hannity’s primetime show and claimed that he had a “great meeting” with Senator Joni Ernst. The Iowa Republican, who had been hesitant to support Hegseth over sexual misconduct allegations and his views on women in combat, said on Monday that he should be allowed to make his case during confirmation hearings.

“You get into these meetings and you listen to senators — it’s an amazing advise and consent process — and you hear how thoughtful, serious, substantive they are on these key issues that pertain to our Defense Department,” he declared. “And Joni Ernst is front and center on that. So to be able to have phone calls and meetings and time again to talk over the issues is really, really important. The fact that she’s willing to support me through this process means a lot.”

Ernst, a female combat veteran who helped lead the charge against sexual assault in the military, had previously said in interviews that she wasn’t yet ready to support Hegseth’s nomination. “A number of our senators, they want to make sure that any allegations have been cleared, and that’s why we have to have a very thorough vetting process,” she said last week.

Since then, Ernst has been the target of a MAGA social media pressure campaign accusing her of betraying President-elect Donald Trump.

Throughout the sympathetic interview with his one-time co-worker, Hegseth continued to deny the allegations against him, noting that most are from anonymous sources. Hannity, meanwhile, asserted that Hegseth had been fully cleared of all wrongdoing.

“The media mob doing what they predictably do,” Hannity declared. “You had a consensual relationship. It was investigated. You were fully exonerated. And correct me if I’m wrong here, wasn’t there videotape evidence that was largely responsible for exonerating you?”

While Hannity was somewhat vague, it appeared he was talking about the 2017 police report in which a woman claimed that Hegseth raped her in a California hotel room. During the investigation, which was closed with no charges filed against Hegseth, police cited a video of the “smiling” woman and Hegseth walking together towards the hotel pool around 1 a.m.

Though Hegseth has denied allegations that he sexually assaulted the woman, claiming she was the “aggressor” and that the encounter was consensual, he paid an undisclosed sum to her to avoid a lawsuit years later. He has asserted that he only reached a settlement agreement to save his job at Fox News, and Hegseth’s lawyer has since threatened to sue the accuser.

“I mean, in addition to personal witnesses and all of that, it was fully investigated at the time years ago,” Hegseth reacted to Hannity. “I was completely cleared. And that’s why, Sean, you know what I look forward to? I’m looking forward to the FBI background check. I look forward to the actual, under-oath conversations with senators as we go through the process because, again, this is what the left does, Sean. It’s the anatomy of a smear.”

He went on to complain that the media attempted to “try you” before nominees “can even get into the doors with senators.”

Besides the rape allegations, Hegseth has been accused in multiple reports of alcohol abuse and drinking on the job, both as a Fox News host and while he ran two different veterans advocacy groups. Hegseth and several Fox News colleagues have disputed claims that he showed up on the set of Fox & Friends with alcohol on his breath, and the former Fox star has insisted he will not “have a drop of alcohol” if he becomes secretary of defense.

On top of that, Hegseth has also been accused of mismanaging funds at the veterans groups he led and drunkenly yelling “kill all Muslims” at a bar when he was CEO of the Concerned Veterans of America. He also reportedly admitted to his first wife that he had five different affairs during their four years of marriage. In recent interviews, both Hegseth and his mom have described him as a “changed man” who has leaned into his Christian faith after marrying his third wife.