Sen. Markwayne Mullin speaks with the media following a meeting with Pete Hegseth in Washington, DC on November 21.

Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin on Sunday defended Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Pentagon, who is facing scrutiny over a 2017 allegation that he sexually assaulted a woman at a hotel.

“There was no case here. He was falsely accused,” Mullin claimed in an interview with Dana Bash on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“As a father of three girls, I will admit, when I first heard that, I thought, ‘That’s not good.’ As I started reading the report, I thought, ‘Wait a second, there’s more to this story.’ When I sat down and had a conversation with Pete I enjoyed the conversation, he answered every one of my questions, and I look forward to helping him get confirmed as the next secretary of defense.”

Key context: According to a newly released police report, the woman told police that Hegseth physically blocked her from leaving a hotel room, took her phone, and then sexually assaulted her even though she “remembered saying ‘no’ a lot.”

The 22-page report lays out the competing narratives of what happened in new detail — including conflicting accounts of how intoxicated Hegseth and the woman were, and descriptions of video surveillance showing some of their movements that night.

Hegseth was not charged with a crime in connection with the allegation. His attorney has acknowledged that Hegseth later entered into a settlement agreement with his accuser that included an undisclosed monetary payment and a confidentiality clause.

Though Hegseth insisted the encounter was consensual, the lawyer said he was fearful that the woman was poised to make an allegation against him during the #MeToo movement that might have cost him his job as a Fox News host.

Another GOP senator weighs in: Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri said lawmakers should question Hegseth over the allegations during confirmation hearings, but also touted Trump’s pick for his ability to shake up the Pentagon.

“Senators certainly are going to ask questions about that. They should — and he has a right to answer,” Schmitt said of the police report on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday.

“Ultimately, this is a decision President Trump made to bring in another disruptor,” he added, saying, “There needs to be reform in the Pentagon.”

This post has been updated to include comments from GOP Sen. Eric Schmitt.

CNN’s Sarah Davis, Aileen Graef, Casey Tolan, Scott Glover and Sara Murray contributed reporting to this post.



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