Pete Hegseth says he was blackmailed into paying off rape accuser during #MeToo movement: lawyer

President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, says he was blackmailed during the #MeToo movement and paid off an accuser to keep her silent, his attorney Timothy Parlatore tells The Post.

Hegseth, who worked as a Fox News host until Trump picked him for his cabinet, paid an undisclosed amount to a woman who accused him of sexual assault, an encounter which he maintains was consensual, his lawyer confirmed.

“Basically, he was totally innocent. He did nothing wrong here,” Parlatore said. “We went through a mediation and ultimately settled for far less than what she wanted. And that should have completely buried it.”