Tag: John Hyten

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.

This is just bizarre and creepy that a four star general would do something like this if true:

U.S. Air Force Gen. John E. Hyten’s chances of being confirmed as the military’s second-highest officer may come down to one thing next week: whether senators believe an Army colonel’s charges that he sexually assaulted her while she was under his command — accusations he denies.

Col. Kathryn Spletstoser has accused Hyten, who is currently responsible for the country’s nuclear arsenal as the head of U.S. Strategic Command, of making unwanted sexual contact with her on several occasions in 2017 while the two were traveling for work.

Both Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee maintain that her account is plausible, but some members have also said they are wary of taking her uncorroborated word over the categorical denials of a decorated four-star Air Force general endorsed by high-ranking colleagues. (…………..)

Spletstoser’s public remarks would probably mirror much of what she has told the panel in private and alleged in a Washington Post interview: that Hyten had taken a liking to her when he took over U.S. Strategic Command in November 2016, picking her to be his “point person,” but that two months in, he started making overt and unwelcome advances during official overnight trips.

The first time was in January 2017, she alleges, when Hyten grabbed her left hand as she was exiting a work meeting in his hotel room in Palo Alto, California, pulling it in toward his groin so she could feel his erection before she moved her hand away. In June 2017, Spletstoser said that Hyten interrupted another work meeting in his Washington, D.C., hotel room to fondle her breasts and kiss her — and that she pushed him away and admonished him. That prompted Hyten to panic, she said, and ask her through tears: “Are you going to tell on me?” Though she felt he had clearly “crossed a line,” she assured him she would not, she said.

Yet it was during the Reagan National Defense Forum in December 2017 that Spletstoser said Hyten made his most aggressive move, arriving uninvited at her hotel room in workout clothes carrying a binder, and claiming he wanted to discuss work matters. Within minutes, Spletstoser said, Hyten had pinned her against him and begun “grinding on me hard, like he wants to take my clothes off and have sex . . . and then I realize, he’s ejaculating.”

Washington Post

You can read more at the link, but what complicates this issue is that Col. Spletstoser was given a letter of reprimand from investigators for toxic leadership behavior. She was also given a negative officer evaluation report from General Hyten which she was appealing when he was nominated for the Vice Chairman job and she then made the complaint against him.

Interestingly no one else has come forward to say they saw anything inappropriate. This turns this into a he said, she said situation and it will be interesting to see what happens because in this #metoo environment those accused of sexual misconduct are guilty until proven innocent.

The nominee for the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has been accused of sexual misconduct, but an investigation could find nothing to corroborate the allegation:

The Air Force has found no evidence to corroborate allegations of sexual misconduct by the four-star nominated to be the military’s No. 2 officer, but that investigation may not be enough to satisfy Senate lawmakers considering his nomination.

On April 12, a service member came forward with allegations that U.S. Strategic Command head Gen. John Hyten, currently the head of U.S. Strategic Command, initiated “abusive sexual contact” and “an inappropriate relationship” with her, a senior military official familiar with the investigation told reporters Wednesday.

Hyten, announced in April as the nominee to become vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is awaiting confirmation by the Senate Armed Services Committee, whose members were briefed Wednesday on the investigation carried out by the Air Force Office of Special Investigation.

“After a comprehensive investigation by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, there was insufficient evidence to support any finding of misconduct on the part of Gen. Hyten,” said Pentagon spokeswoman Col. DeDe Halfhill. “Gen. Hyten cooperated with the investigation. With more than 38 years of service to our nation, Gen. Hyten has proven himself to be a principled and dedicated patriot.”

Defense News

You can read more at the link, but essentially one of General Hyten’s aides who was probably the rank of Colonel accused him of unwanted kissing and hugging after he was nominated for the Vice Chairman job. What complicates this though is that she was given a letter of reprimand from investigators for toxic leadership behavior. She was also given a negative officer evaluation report from General Hyten which she was appealing when he was nominated for the Vice Chairman job.

This turns this into a he said, she said situation and it will be interesting to see what happens because in this #metoo environment those accused of sexual misconduct are guilty until proven innocent. The investigation could not prove anything either way.

I can’t remember anytime that USFK has hosted two combatant commanders as well as the commander of an extremely important Pentagon organization like the Missile Defense Agency:

Three top U.S. military commanders plan to issue a strong warning message to North Korea in a rare joint press availability here later Tuesday, officials said.

Pacific Command chief Adm. Harry Harris, Strategic Command head Gen. John Hyten and Missile Defense Agency Director Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves are scheduled to hold a press conference at a local U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) base.

It’s quite unusual for the U.S. commanding generals serving abroad to gather in South Korea and release public statements together.

It apparently reflects Washington’s alertness against North Korea’s rapid development of nuclear bombs and missiles.

In July, the North successfully test-launched two intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).

The U.S. intelligence community also believes the secretive communist nation has made significant progress in miniaturizing nuclear warheads.

The U.S. commanders are expected to stressed that a military option will be on the table as the last means to use in case of an eventual failure in efforts to resolve the North Korea issue via diplomacy, a defense source said.  [Yonhap]

Anyone else remember anytime this many senior leaders have visited South Korea together?

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Chairman Jeong Kyeong-doo (L), talks with visiting U.S. Strategic Command head Gen. John Hyten at the JCS headquarters in Seoul on Aug. 21, 2017, the first day of the Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) exercise against North Korean provocations, a Korea-U.S. combined command-post drill that runs from Aug. 21-31. Hyten and two other top U.S. military leaders visited South Korea in an unusual move to observe the UFG exercises against North Korean provocations, a Korea-U.S. combined command post drill that runs from Aug. 21-31. The JCS provided this photo. (Yonhap)