VINDICATED?: Facing a potentially career-ending allegation of sexual assault, Air Force Gen. John Hyten was effectively cleared yesterday by a bipartisan majority of senators on the Armed Services Committee who made clear that they believed his categorical denials over his accuser, Army Col. Kathryn Spletstoser, who accused him of assaulting her in a California hotel room in 2017.
The hearing went as well as could be expected for Hyten and appeared to pave the way for his confirmation as the next vice chairman of the joint chiefs, the nation’s second-highest-ranking military officer.
NEVER HAPPENED: The hearing was Hyten’s first time publicly addressing the allegations, which had been widely reported in the press, and he denied them unequivocally. “Nothing happened, ever,” Hyten testified. “I have never been to her room.”
FALSELY ACCUSED: Hyten had some high-powered wing-women in his corner, including former secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson, who oversaw an inspector general probe into the allegations that involved 53 investigators and produced a 1,400-page report.
“This investigation was thorough, and the allegations were taken seriously and it was handled appropriately,” she said. “After all of this, 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 stopped short of calling Spletstoser a liar, allowing she may be confused. “I accept that it is entirely possible that his accuser is a wounded soldier who believes what she is saying is true, even if it’s not. That possibility makes this whole situation very sad.”
‘HE LIED’: Spletstoser, who attended the hearing, told the Military Times she was stunned by the testimony. “You just had a four-star general get up in front of the American people and in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee and make false statements under oath,” she said. “He lied. He lied about sexually assaulting me.”
The message it sends to victims, she said, is to keep quiet. “This moving forward tells everybody, every sexual assault survivor victim, that they need not come forward,” Spletstoser said. “That their own character, despite having a flawless record, will be questioned. That they will be the one investigated. That they will not see justice.”
ALL THE EVIDENCE POINTED ONE WAY: Committee chairman Jim Inhofe in his opening statement described the five executive sessions in which committee members reviewed over 1,000 pages of investigated records and 50 witness statements and then declared the allegations “do not withstand the close scrutiny of the committee’s process.”
And Inhofe moved Arizona Republican Martha McSally, who revealed this year that she was raped while a young Air Force officer, to be the lead-off questioner, so she could offer a spirited defense of Hyten.
“To be clear, this wasn’t just a jump ball; not a he said, she said; not a situation where we just couldn’t prove what allegedly happened. I, too, believe that truth still matters in this country. And the full truth was revealed in this process. The truth is that General Hyten is innocent of these charges. Sexual assault happens in the military, it just didn’t happen in this case,” she said.
“I pray the accuser gets the help she needs and finds the peace she is searching for, but it cannot be by destroying General Hyten with these false allegations.”
DIDN’T PULL A KAVANAUGH: Hyten’s situation in some ways resembled that of Judge Brett Kavanaugh after he was nominated to the Supreme Court last year, with some notable differences. The accusations about Hyten were not fuzzy memories from decades earlier; they were from two years ago and recounted in unwavering detail.
And as the military officer in charge of America’s nuclear arsenal, Hyten could not afford to seem emotional or hysterical about the unfairness of the allegations against him.
Virginia Democrat Tim Kaine praised Hyten’s demeanor during the closed-door session. “You’ve firmly denied the allegations against you, but you did not speak in any way disrespectfully toward your accuser. That was not easy. Nor did you speak disrespectfully to the committee,” Kaine said. “You did not say we were engaging in a witch hunt or criticize us for asking you questions that we needed to ask you.”
WHAT MAY HAVE SAVED HIM: In the end, it might have been his job as U.S. strategic commander, who must be reachable in times of crisis, that saved him. “General Hyten is one of the most closely guarded officers in the military because he commands the nuclear deterrence,” said Wilson, noting he has a personal security detail that knows his whereabouts at all times.
Hyten said they have “eyes on me at all times” and were able to corroborate his statement that he never visited Spletstoser’s hotel room in 2017 or any other time.
ALL IT TAKES IS ONE SENATOR: While Hyten would seem to have the votes for confirmation, a single senator could put the nomination on hold. And several senators, including Connecticut Democrat Richard Blumenthal, Hawaii Democrat Mazie Hirono, Illinois Democrat Tammy Duckworth, and Iowa Republican Joni Ernst, indicated they have some reservations about Hyten’s leadership during his tenure as head of U.S. Strategic Command.
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HAPPENING TODAY: This morning the Senate Armed Services Committee takes up the nomination of Vice Adm. Michael Gilday to get his fourth star and become chief of naval operations.
Gilday, the director of the joint staff, was a last-minute replacement candidate for Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. William Moran, who withdrew after questions arose about his judgment for maintaining a professional relationship with a disgraced subordinate.
MORE MISSILES LAUNCHED: For the second time in less than a week, North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast, according to South Korea’s military, as reported by the Yonhap News Agency.
The missiles traveled about 150 miles, not as far as last week’s launch of what are believed to be North Korean versions of Russian Iskander ballistic missiles, dubbed KN-23s.
The Wednesday launches come as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is on his way to Thailand for a gathering of top diplomats at ASEAN-related ministerial meetings. Speaking to reporters on his plane, Pompeo said he still doesn’t know when the promised resumption of talks with North Korea will happen.
“We think they’ll be started before too long. I’m very hopeful,” Pompeo said. “Chairman Kim had said when the two leaders met at the DMZ that it could get started in a few weeks. It’s taken a little bit longer than that.”
Pompeo hinted that part of the hold-up is that North Korea may be picking a new negotiator to deal with U.S. special representative Stephen Biegun.
‘I LIKE HIM, HE LIKES ME’: Asked about how things are going with North Korea, and whether his goal is “containment,” President Trump gave his standard response. “We’ll see what happens. I can’t tell you what’s going to happen.”
“My relationship with Kim Jong Un is a very good one, as I’m sure you’ve seen,” he said. “So we’ll see. I have a good relationship with him. I like him, he likes me. We’ll see what happens.”
CONDITIONS-, NOT CALENDAR-BASED: Pompeo complained his comments Monday to the Economic Club of Washington were distorted by the press, insisting that any withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan before the 2020 presidential election will be conditions-based, not calendar-based.
“I wish reporters had been a little more careful in what they had said. They got it wrong. There’s no deadline for this,” he said to reporters traveling with him to Bangkok.
For the record, here’s what he said, according to the official State Department transcript:
Q: Before the next presidential election in the United States, would you expect we reduce our troops in Afghanistan?
POMPEO: That’s my directive from the President of the United States. He’s been unambiguous: End the endless wars, draw down, reduce. It won’t just be us. Those of you who have served know that it – Resolute Support has countries from all across Europe and around the world. We hope that overall the need for combat forces in the region is reduced.
Here’s what Pompeo said he meant to say, which he would have if, to use his locution, he “had been a little more careful” in what he actually said:
“The president has been very direct about his expectations that we will reduce our operational footprint on the ground in Afghanistan just as quickly as we can get there, consistent with his other mission set, which is to ensure that we have an adequate risk reduction plan for making sure that there is not terror that’s conducted from Afghanistan as well.”
Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, he said, is working “to deliver a peace and reconciliation plan that will permit us to conduct a conditions-based withdrawal from Afghanistan as quickly as we can execute it.”
COATS: ‘GOOD MAN,’ ‘CONFUSED’: President Trump said one reason he felt it was time for Dan Coats to leave as director of national intelligence was that he was “confused” about the state of the world.
“And there really wasn’t conflict,” Trump told reporters on the White House lawn as he returned from a trip to Jamestown, Virginia. “I think it was confusion more than conflict. Dan made statements and they were a little confused. But that was not conflict. Dan is a friend of mine. He’s a good man.”
Coats’ views often clashed with Trump’s, such as when he testified before Congress in January that North Korea would likely never give up its nuclear weapons. Trump berated Coats and other intel officials, telling them they needed to “go back to school.”
NEW HERITAGE IRAN REPORT: The Heritage Foundation is out with a new report on the Iran crisis, “Securing the Strait of Hormuz: Five Principles for the U.S.,” by analyst Luke Coffey.
Key takeaway: “The free flow of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz is a U.S. strategic priority. There are some U.S. politicians and policymakers who dismiss the idea that the U.S. should play any significant role in keeping the strait open because the U.S. imports so little oil and gas from the region. This is a shortsighted and strategically inept view. The U.S. itself might not depend on Middle East oil or LNG, but the economic consequences arising from a major disruption of supplies would ripple across the globe. U.S. leadership is essential for a successful maritime force to keep the Strait of Hormuz open and safe for passage.”
AFGHANISTAN KIA IDed: The Pentagon released the names of the two soldiers who were killed Monday in Afghanistan. Pfc. Brandon Jay Kreischer, 20, of Stryker, Ohio, and Spc. Michael Isaiah Nance, 24, of Chicago, Illinois, were assigned to 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. They died July 29 in Tarin Kowt, Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan, from wounds sustained in what the Pentagon called “a combat related incident.”
SAILOR LOST AT SEA: The Pentagon has also announced the presumed death of a sailor who went missing July 17 from the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln while it was operating in the Arabian Sea. Aviation Electronics Technician 2nd Class Slayton Saldana, 24, is now listed as “Duty Status Whereabouts Unknown” or DUSTWUN, following what was described as a “man overboard incident.”
Saldana was assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 5, part of Carrier Air Wing 7, assigned to the Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group.
The Rundown
The Hill: Senate Confirms Trump’s Deputy Defense Secretary
AP: Bus strikes roadside bomb in Afghanistan, 32 killed
Bloomberg: White House Eyeing Chinese Forces Gathered On Hong Kong Border
USNI News: New Chinese Military Strategy Casts U.S. Military In Asia As Destabilizing
AP: Iran dismisses Pompeo’s ‘hypocritical’ offer to visit
The Hill: Russian Diplomat: U.S. May Be Planning To Pull Out Of Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
Washington Examiner: Prosecutors get Navy Achievement Medals for losing trial against SEAL Eddie Gallagher
CQ-Roll Call: DOD Workers Bought Chinese Electronics Vulnerable To Hacks, Audit Says
Air Force Magazine: Senator: About 10 Percent of B-1s are Fully Combat-Ready
The Diplomat: U.S. Navy’s New F-35B-Carrying Warship Completes Builder’s Trials
Military.com: CENTCOM: Iran Never Warned RQ-4 Drone Before Shootdown
Washington Post: The quiet director: How Gina Haspel manages the CIA’s volatile relationship with Trump
Washington Examiner: 75 years after Iwo Jima, US Marines storm ‘Pacific’ island with Japanese forces
Air Force Magazine: Watchdog Praises Afghan A-29 Training as Moody Program Winds Down
Washington Examiner: Pentagon determines US and UK special operators killed by coalition accident, not roadside bomb
Calendar
WEDNESDAY | JULY 31
8:50 a.m. 5000 Seminary Road, Alexandria. Institute for Defense and Government Advancement International Military Helicopters USA conference (Day 3), with Randy Rotte, director of business development for cargo helicopters and future vertical lift programs at Boeing, and Carvil Chalk, director for aviation development at the U.S. Army Combat Capability Development Aviation and Missile Center. www.idga.org/events-militaryhelicoptersusa
8:50 a.m. 5000 Seminary Road, Alexandria. Institute for Defense and Government Advancement International Fighter USA conference, (Day 3), with Air Force Maj. Gen. David Krumm, director of strategic plans in the Air Force office of the deputy chief of staff for strategic plans and requirements. www.idga.org/events-internationalfighterusa
9 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Avenue N.W. Center for Strategic and International Studies conference on “Are Sanctions Working” against North Korea, Russia, Iran, and Venezuela, with Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Sigal Mandelker and Peter Flanagan, partner at Covington & Burling LLP. www.csis.org
9:30 a.m. SD-G50 Dirksen. Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing on Vice Adm. Michael Gilday’s nomination to be chief of naval operations. www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings
2 p.m. 1775 Massachusetts Avenue N.W. Brookings Institution discussion on “Assessing Space Security: Threat and Response,” with former principal deputy national nuclear security administrator Madelyn Creedon; former deputy assistant defense secretary for arms control verification and compliance Mallory Stewart; former assistant secretary of state for arms control verification and compliance Frank Rose; Todd Harrison, director of defense budget analysis at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; and Michael O’Hanlon, senior fellow at Brookings. www.brookings.edu/events
2:30 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Avenue N.W. Center for Strategic and International Studies discussion on “5G Innovation and Security: Perspectives from Industry and Government Leadership,” with Homeland Security Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Director Christopher Krebs, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Cyber and International Communications and Information Policy Robert Strayer, and FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks. www.csis.org/events/5g-innovation
THURSDAY | AUGUST 1
10 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Avenue N.W. Center for Strategic and International Studies discussion on challenges in making generational changes in military systems, with Mitch Snyder, president and CEO of Bell, and Andrew Philip Hunter, director of the CSIS Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group. www.csis.org/events
3 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Avenue N.W. Center for Strategic and International Studies discussion on “Japan’s Security Challenges and the Japan-U.S. Alliance,” with Gen. Koji Yamazaki, chief of staff of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces Joint Staff, and Michael Green, Japan chair at CSIS. www.csis.org/events
6:30 p.m. 1325 G Street N.W. Military Reporters and Editors (MRE) Workshop: Investigative Reporting on the Military, with John Donnelly, senior defense writer, CQ/Roll Call, MRE president; Lara Seligman, Pentagon correspondent, Foreign Policy; Sam LaGrone, Naval reporter and editor, USNI News. Live streamed at www.facebook.com. www.eventbrite.com/e/mre-workshop
FRIDAY | AUGUST 2
2:30 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Avenue N.W. Center for Strategic and International Studies “Japan-U.S. Military Statesmen Forum 2019,” with retired Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Michael Mullen; retired U.S. Forces Korea commander Gen. Vincent Brooks; retired Japanese chief of staff Gen. Shigeru Iwasaki; retired Japanese chief of staff Gen. Ryoichi Oriki; retired Japanese chief of staff Adm. Katsutoshi Kawano; former director of national intelligence Adm. Dennis Blair; and Yoichi Funabashi, chairman of the Asia Pacific Initiative. www.csis.org/events
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“To be clear, this wasn’t just a jump ball; not a ‘he said, she said’; not a situation where we just couldn’t prove what allegedly happened. I, too, believe that truth still matters in this country. And the full truth was revealed in this process. The truth is that General Hyten is innocent of these charges. Sexual assault happens in the military, it just didn’t happen in this case.”
Arizona senator Martha McSally, a former Air Force A-10 squadron commander and rape survivor, defending Joint Chiefs vice chairman nominee Gen. John Hyten against charges of sexual assault.
