Julie Roginsky: Hegseth, Fox News Should Release Accusers from Their NDAs

PHILLIP: “I mean, that is an important point. And the fact that there‘s that, there‘s all the things that he‘s addressing in these meetings with Capitol Hill, and his own mother had to go on Fox News to explain why she wrote in an E-mail to him that he was an abuser of women.”
MALDONADO: “Well, she did say today that she wrote the E-mail and she was upset at the time, and within 2 or 3 minutes, she responded with another E-mail saying, ‘I‘m sorry.’ She was just — it was haste. So let‘s be very clear, Abby, of what the real story of what mom said today. Obviously, Pete is in the fight of his life. There‘s no doubt about it. Look, President Donald j. Trump is the 47th president of the United States. He chose Pete Hegseth to run his Department of Defense, the president nominated him. Now he‘s got to get 51 votes. There‘s no secret he‘s having a hard time in the Capitol because no one has given him a fair opportunity to go to offices and talk to the senators. They‘re just on him. Look, there‘s a bunch of unnamed sources out there on him every day, Abby. Every day there‘s more unnamed sources. Pete‘s got to clear his name, as well.”
ROGINSKY: “But do you know why they‘re unnamed?”
MALDONADO: “Why are they unnamed?”
ROGINSKY: “Because Pete Hegseth has bound his accuser to an NDA. She could not come forward because he will not release her from her NDA. There are people — “
MALDONADO: “That’s one person.”
ROGINSKY: “There are people at FOX — well, I‘ll tell you more. There are people at Fox News who used to potentially work at Fox News, or people who are there now, who may be bound by NDAs as well. They may not be able to speak. So maybe Fox News should release them from NDAs. There are plenty of people out there who I‘m sure would be happy to come forward, starting with the accuser. You can‘t get Kavanaugh’d if the other side hasn‘t had its chance to speak. Brett Kavanaugh, his accuser was able to come forward and testify. Unfortunately, Pete Hegseth’s accuser is not able to say a word because he bound her by an NDA. So therefore, if you want to hear from her, first and foremost, everybody here, including the senators who are supporting him, should ask Pete Hegseth to release her from her NDA, and it‘s not clear to me as to why that‘s not happening.”
PHILLIP: “Should she be released from the NDA?”
MALDONADO: “You know what? At the end of the day, I don‘t know that she needs to be released. He needs — he needs 51 votes.”
ROGINSKY: “Of course she does.”
MALDONADO: “And the Senate is going to — the Senate‘s going to decide, Julie.”
ROGINSKY: “But they need to hear from her. They need to hear from her.”
MALDONADO: “Well — “
ROGINSKY: “Do they need to subpoena her and have her testify in open — I mean, that‘s the problem. You‘re asking somebody who’s potentially raped, okay, let‘s have a little sympathy for this person, to have to come in under subpoena of the Senate and testify under oath, as opposed to just having private conversations with senators, which she could be having if she were released from her NDA. And that‘s not happening right now.”
PHILLIP: “Yeah, let me just — “
MALDONADO: “Julie‘s line of ‘potentially raped,’ I mean, it‘s what we‘re hearing out there every day, Abby, that this person — it‘s an unnamed source said this, unnamed source said this — “
ROGINSKY: “She’s unnamed because he he won‘t let her come forward.”
PHILLIP: “Well, just — I mean, I‘m not sure, honestly, if you‘re familiar with the facts of that case, but there was a — there was a — “
MALDONADO: “Of course.”
PHILLIP: “There was a police report — “
MALDONADO: “In a district that I represented, Monterey, California.”
PHILLIP: “So, the allegation of rape is there. She didn‘t make that up. It‘s part of the case. So Julie‘s not just, like, calling her an alleged rape victim. She went to a hospital and received a rape kit.”
MALDONADO: “Julie said potentially.”
ROGINSKY: “I mean, yeah, of course, I wasn‘t there.”
PHILLIP: “She went to a hospital and received a rape kit.”