Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald J. Trump’s pick to lead the Defense Department, told Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina that he planned to release the woman who accused him of sexual assault from a confidential settlement agreement, Mr. Graham said on Sunday.

Speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Mr. Graham, a Republican, said that Mr. Hegseth told him during a private meeting last week of his intentions, which could allow his accuser to come forward publicly with her allegations.

Mr. Hegseth paid the woman after she accused him of having sexually assaulted her in 2017, in an encounter that he has insisted was consensual. A police report was filed four days later, in which the woman said Mr. Hegseth had taken her phone and prevented her from leaving his hotel room before assaulting her, but no charges were brought against him.

“He told me he would release her from that agreement,” Mr. Graham said of Mr. Hegseth. He added, “I would want to know if anybody nominated for a high-level job in Washington legitimately assaulted somebody.”