Air Force Colonel Accusing General Hyten of Sexual Assault has Long History of Unsubstantiated Claims

Thanks to a ROK Head tip for this article about how the accuser of President Trump’s nominee as Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has made prior unsubstantiated claims to advance her career:

Hyten, who leads the U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM), was nominated in April by President Donald Trump to be vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The nomination was delayed by an investigation of the claims but was approved last week in the Senate Armed Services Committee by a vote of 20-7. The entire Senate will vote on the nomination in the weeks to come.

The Air Force investigation found no merit to the dozens of unsubstantiated claims made by Col. Kathryn Spletstoser in the last couple of years, as well as a history of unsubstantiated claims levied against supervisors. Colleagues of Spletstoser say she had anger issues, bullied subordinates, and had an incredibly foul mouth. They say she’s lying. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), who has vocally opposed Hyten “given the disturbing allegations” against him, did not show up to the Senate Executive Session in which the Air Force investigation findings were confidentially revealed and discussed.

Spletstoser levied dozens of allegations against several supervisors following the loss of her job in 2018, but she had made unsubstantiated allegations previously as well. For instance, two years after a good, but not great, performance review in 2007 that she believed had kept her from being selected for battalion command, Spletstoser appealed and claimed the man who gave her the review had sexually harassed her throughout her tour of duty in Iraq.

The Federalist

You can read more about the unsubstantiated allegations she has made in the past to advance in her career. Of course the usual liberal suspects were out promoting her story and trashing General Hyten’s reputation. However, this is what is really disturbing is that COL Spletstoser claims that during one of the assault that General Hyten ejaculated on her yoga pants. However, DNA testing found no evidence it was General Hyten’s DNA:

While the reputation-damaging details were salacious, the Air Force had already investigated the claim and found it completely lacking. The U.S. Army Criminal Identification Laboratory tested the pants Spletstoser had provided. She said she was wearing the pants during the incident and the stain on the outside was Hyten’s semen.

However, testing excluded Hyten as a source of the DNA material detected on the pants. However, Spletstoser was one of the contributors to the DNA material on the pants. These facts didn’t make it into the New York Times report.

The journalism malpractice by the New York Times is not surprising, but I have to wonder if Spletstoser can be charged with planting evidence?

This is like the Brett Kavanaugh situation all over again. However, since the Vice Chairman position does not have the political consequences compared to a Supreme Court judge, I don’t expect the usual suspects to go all out and destroy General Hyten like they did Kavanaugh. That means he will likely get confirmed by the full Senate, but people that make false claims should be held accountable because of the reputations they destroy and most importantly how it creates suspicion of legitimate claims.