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‘Nothing Happened, Ever’: General Defends Himself Against Sexual Assault Claims ‘Nothing Happened, Ever’: General Defends Himself Against Sexual Assault Claims
(about 5 hours later)
WASHINGTON — Gen. John E. Hyten of the Air Force defended himself on Tuesday against accusations that he sexually assaulted a senior Army colonel who worked for him, telling a Senate hearing on his nomination to be President Trump’s next vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff that he was innocent of the claims leveled against him. WASHINGTON — With the female accuser looking on, two American women on Tuesday exerted their considerable influence on matters relating to sexual assault and the military, saying that they do not believe that President Trump’s nominee for vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff sexually assaulted a subordinate multiple times in 2017.
“Nothing happened, ever,” General Hyten said in his opening statement to the Senate Armed Services Committee. Both Heather A. Wilson, the former Air Force secretary, and Senator Martha McSally, Republican of Arizona and a self-described survivor of sexual assault in the military, strongly and unequivocally defended Gen. John E. Hyten during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
It was the general’s first public comments about the allegations by Col. Kathryn Spletstoser, an active-duty colonel who has served 28 years in the Army and four combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Seated several rows behind the general was Col. Kathryn A. Spletstoser, a 28-year Army officer with four combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. In an interview last week with The New York Times, she described numerous instances of unwanted touching by the general, culminating in what she described as an assault in her hotel room in December 2017.
In an interview with The New York Times last week, Colonel Spletstoser described numerous instances in which she said that General Hyten initiated unwanted sexual contact with her, culminating in an incident on the night of Dec. 2, 2017, when she said he entered her hotel room and rubbed himself against her until he ejaculated. Air Force officials said an investigation found no evidence to corroborate Colonel Spletstoser’s accusations. (Investigators also said they found no evidence that she lied.)
Colonel Spletstoser sat silently in the audience at the hearing as her former boss denied her allegations. “Sexual assault happens in the military,” Ms. McSally said. “It just didn’t happen in this case.” Ms. McSally — who said this year that she had been raped when she was a cadet at the Air Force Academy — also said that the case against General Hyten was not even “a jump ball” or a “he said, she said” situation.
The Pentagon has stood firmly behind General Hyten. Heather Wilson, who was the Air Force secretary when the investigation into the general was opened, appeared at his side on Tuesday and told senators there was no corroborating evidence to support Colonel Spletstoser’s accusation. Ms. Wilson was equally adamant. Speaking before the committee, she declared that “General Hyten was falsely accused and this matter should be set aside as you consider this nomination.”
“General Hyten was falsely accused and this matter should be set aside as you consider this nomination,” Ms. Wilson said. “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 is not.” She then suggested that Colonel Spletstoser, who is still on active duty in the Army, “is a wounded soldier who believes what she is saying is true even if it is not.”
In an email responding to Ms. Wilson’s comments, Colonel Spletstoser said she was “offended that she would insinuate that my combat service would make me a liar. I served my country in battle.” Colonel Spletstoser said she found the assertions of the two women devastating. Of Ms. Wilson in particular, Colonel Spletstoser said she was “disgusted and offended that she would insinuate that my combat service would make me a liar.”
Colonel Spletstoser also said she was willing to discuss her allegations — and evidence she said supported them — in public testimony. With a handful of exceptions, the people who spoke Tuesday — Colonel Spletstoser said her offer to speak at the public hearing was declined — made clear they believed General Hyten over his accuser.
Sexual assault victims advocacy groups noted that the internal Air Force investigation, while finding no evidence to support the claims of Colonel Spletstoser, also found no evidence that she was lying. Senator James M. Inhofe, Republican of Oklahoma and the committee chairman, criticized the news media for writing about the colonel’s account “with little regard for the truth,” and indicated that he, too, believed General Hyten.
“Now that Colonel Spletstoser has come forward publicly, the Air Force appears to be engaged in revisionist history in order to smear her,” said Col. Don Christensen, who retired from the Air Force and is president of Protect Our Defenders, which advocates on behalf of assault victims. “This committee takes allegations of sexual assault very seriously,” Mr. Inhofe said in his opening statement. “But this committee will not act on unproven allegations — allegations that do not withstand the close scrutiny of this committee’s process.”
“As the Air Force’s own investigation has concluded, there is no evidence that Colonel Spletstoser has fabricated a single word of her allegations or has anything to gain by coming forward,” he said. General Hyten, for his part, maintained that he never initiated sexual contact with Colonel Spletstoser.
Also supporting the Air Force general was Senator Martha McSally, Republican of Arizona, who announced earlier this year that she had been raped when she was a cadet at the Air Force Academy and that the Pentagon did not handle her complaints adequately when she came forward. “Nothing happened, ever,” he said in his opening statement. He denied the assertions that the colonel described, including an episode on the night of Dec. 2, 2017, when she said General Hyten entered her hotel room and rubbed himself against her until he ejaculated.
“Sexual assault happens in the military,” Ms. McSally said at the hearing. “It just didn’t happen in this case.” But the general seemed to stumble when he sought to explain why he delayed acting on numerous complaints from military staff members that Colonel Spletstoser was “toxic” in dealings with others.
In the case of Colonel Spletstoser, Ms. McSally said, “this wasn’t just a jump ball. Not a ‘he said, she said.’” “You could not bring yourself to admit or recognize toxic leadership within your command,” said Senator Joni Ernst, Republican of Iowa. “You continued to endorse her. You only did something about it when concerns were raised about your own leadership.”
She added that “the truth is that General Hyten is innocent of these charges.” She added that “all of this suggests a conflict between your personal inclinations and your professional responsibilities.”
General Hyten, who also highly praised Colonel Spletstoser in her performance reviews, and advocated on her behalf in emails to other top officials despite the complaints about her, said: “You’ve got to understand she was brilliant. She did spectacular work.”
With his wife and family seated behind him, the general repeatedly presented himself as someone who cared deeply about sexual assault claims in the military. He promised that if he became vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the second-highest military position in the country, he would work assiduously to eradicate what he called the “scourge” of sexual assault in the Defense Department.
But pressed several times for specifics on how he would do so, he said he was unsure and would ask people for help. “I know a lot about space and cyber,” he said. “But I’m not an expert on sexual assault.”
The Defense Department has been struggling for years to deal with sexual assault in military ranks, and the Pentagon’s own statistics show the problem is worsening.
In May, the Defense Department estimated that the number of sexual assaults climbed nearly 38 percent in 2018, compared with two years earlier. Senior military leaders, who want to retain control of the issue, continue to insist that they are working to raise awareness and accountability.
“You can’t come up with any ideas?” asked Senator Tammy Duckworth, Democrat of Illinois. “I worry about your leadership on this issue.”
Ms. Duckworth also noted that General Hyten’s cellphone, issued by the Defense Department, was wiped of most of its data during the time of the alleged episodes.
“I was not aware it was wiped,” General Hyten said. “To me, it’s just an unclassified phone.”
While most of the Republicans on the committee praised the general during the hearing, he appeared to have some support from Democrats as well.
Senator Doug Jones, Democrat of Alabama, singled out Ms. Wilson’s defense of the general as something with which he agreed. And several other Democrats were largely muted in their questions about sexual assault and instead asked about military policy.
Senator Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, had only one question for General Hyten related to the allegations, asking whether he agreed that “if this is true, it would be disqualifying?”
General Hyten replied, “Yes.” Mr. Kaine then moved on to questions about the Law of the Sea convention, an arcane treaty that governs maritime relations.
Advocates of victims of sexual assault criticized the process, noting that Colonel Spletstoser was not allowed to present her case publicly before the committee. (She privately testified before committee members last week.)
“The fix is in to elevate Gen. John E. Hyten,” Toni Van Pelt, the president of the National Organization for Women, said in a statement, “despite credible accusations of sexual assault made by an officer under his command.” She called on the committee to allow Colonel Spletstoser to testify publicly.
But one congressional staffer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that the comments by Ms. McSally all but assured that General Hyten would be confirmed.