Air Force Gen. John Hyten’s nomination to be the next vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs got a forceful boost as former Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson, who oversaw the investigation into the allegation he sexually assaulted a military aide, told Congress she thinks the accusation is false.
“I believe the Senate will come to the same conclusion I did: General Hyten was falsely accused and this matter should be set aside as you consider his nomination,” Wilson said before the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday.
Wilson said the Air Force investigation, in which a team of 53 investigators interviewed 63 people and produced a 1,400-page report, “was thorough and handled appropriately.”
Army Col. Kathryn Spletstoser, 51, accused Hyten, 60, of sexual assault in a California hotel room in 2017, when she was a military assistant to Hyten and they were both attending a security forum.
The committee took the accusation seriously, said Chairman Jim Inhofe, who indicated he was ready to vote to confirm Hyten.
“This committee has held five executive sessions, studied over a thousand pages of investigative records, and reviewed statements of more than 50 witnesses,” said the Oklahoma Republican. “This committee takes allegations of sexual assault very seriously — it is unacceptable. But this committee will not act on unproven allegations — allegations that do not withstand the close scrutiny of this committee’s process,” he said.
At his confirmation hearing, Hyten also won the endorsement of Arizona Republican Martha McSally, who revealed earlier this year she had been raped as a junior officer in the Air Force.
“Sexual assault happens in the military,” said McSally. “It just didn’t happen in this case.”
Hyten himself testified that “these allegations are false. Nothing happened ever.”
“I accept that it is entirely possible that his accuser is a wounded soldier who believes that what she is saying is true, even if it is not,” said Wilson in recommending senators approve his nomination. “That possibility makes this entire situation very sad.”
