Another high-level Pentagon nominee caught in the mire of sexual misconduct allegations

CONFIRMATION CHAOS: The fate of another senior Pentagon official has been thrown into question after a former military aide to Air Force Gen. John Hyten accused her erstwhile boss of “a series of unwanted sexual advances by kissing, hugging and rubbing up against her in 2017,” according to the Associated Press, which interviewed the junior officer but did not name her.

The woman also accused Hyten, who has been nominated to be the next joint chiefs vice chairman, of attempting to derail her military career after she rebuffed him.

The story broke in Defense One yesterday afternoon as members of the Senate Armed Services Committee were just learning of the findings of an extensive Air Force investigation into the complaint.

‘INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE’: Pentagon and Air Force officials say Hyten fully cooperated with the investigation, but in the end the allegations could not be corroborated. “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 Col. DeDe Halfhill, a spokeswoman at the Pentagon, in a statement emailed to the Washington Examiner.

The AP reported that the Air Force Office of Special Investigations reviewed “10,000 pages of documents, conducted interviews with as many as 50 people and pursued every lead, but did not uncover evidence to support the allegations,” and as a result Gen. James Holmes, who was in charge of the probe, decided not to press charges.

ROCKY ROAD TO CONFIRMATION: That might not be enough for some members of the Senate Armed Services Committee who have long charged the military with failing to take sexual harassment allegations seriously, particularly Elizabeth Warren and Tammy Duckworth, who according to the AP sent a letter to acting Defense Secretary Mark Esper asking why Hyten was not removed from his post.

Other senators on the committee say they are reserving judgment until they read the voluminous report.

THE ALLEGATIONS: The unnamed officer gave the following account to the AP:

In December 2017, when they were in southern California for the annual Reagan National Defense Forum, Hyten came into her room wearing workout clothes and hugged her tightly and rubbed up against her, according to the woman. She said she told him to leave. Hyten then asked the woman if she was going to report him. She said she told him no. The woman said she didn’t report the incidents at the time in order to avoid embarrassment, and out of fear of retaliation. She was also thinking about retiring, and believed Hyten was as well, so she concluded that he would not pose a risk to any other service members.

TRANSITION TURMOIL: If Hyten cannot be confirmed, it will be the second unexpected disruption in the Pentagon’s summer transition plan in which five of the seven members of the joint chiefs were scheduled to turn over. The current vice chairman, Air Force Gen. Paul Selva, was planning to retire at the end of the month, as was the Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson.

Richardson has been asked to stay on while a new candidate is found to replace Adm. William Moran, who was forced to decline the job after revelations about a questionable professional relationship with a disgraced former adviser. For now, Hyten’s selection is going forward, although a confirmation hearing has not been scheduled and a single senator could put a hold on his nomination.

SPENCER PICKS A 3-STAR: The Wall Street Journal reports President Trump will nominate Navy Vice Adm. Mike Gilday to be the next chief of naval operations, after confirmed nominee Adm. Bill Moran stepped aside this week over questions about his judgment. Navy Secretary Richard Spencer indicated he would look at three- and four-star admirals as he sought to find a new candidate quickly.

Gilday and other Navy officials met late yesterday with Trump at the White House, and Trump reportedly gave the nod to the nomination. Gilday was recently appointed the director of the joint staff at the Pentagon and had been in that job for only a matter of months.

WORKING THROUGH NDAA AMENDMENTS: Democrats, who control the House, have been having their way with amendments to the fiscal year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. Yesterday they plowed through 146 of the almost 700 amendments to the bill, most passing by voice vote. You can see what has been approved so far at an amendment tracker posted by the House Armed Services Committee.

CORRECTION: In yesterday’s Daily on Defense, I reported that House Armed Services Committee chairman Adam Smith rejected Republican criticism that the House version of the NDAA was a partisan document. Smith’s comments on the House floor were in response to an opening statement from Rules Committee ranking member Tom Cole, not Armed Services ranking member Mac Thornberry as I reported. My apologies for the confusion.

Good Thursday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre) and edited by Kelly Jane Torrance (@kjtorrance). Email us here for tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list. And be sure to follow us on Twitter: @dailyondefense.

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HAPPENING TODAY: The one Pentagon nominee who seems poised to win easy confirmation is Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, who testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee this morning as President Trump’s pick to be the next joint chiefs chairman. Streaming live at www.defense.gov.

Milley has been making the rounds on Capitol Hill and has already picked up the endorsement of key senators, including Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Jim Inhofe.

ALSO THIS MORNING: Acting Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford attend the 9 a.m. change of command ceremony at the Marine Barracks as Commandant Gen. Robert Neller hands off to Gen. David Berger.

ALSO TODAY: Vice President Mike Pence continues his West Coast swing with a visit to Naval Amphibious Base Coronado and the Coast Guard cutter Munro at Coast Guard Island in Alameda, Calif. Pence is scheduled to deliver remarks to personnel on the Coast Guard’s measures to stop illegal drugs from coming to the United States.

CONFRONTATION IN THE GULF: The British Navy has begun escorting ships through the Strait of Hormuz in response to Iran’s threat to retaliate for the U.K.’s seizure of an Iranian tanker in Gibraltar, writes the Washington Examiner‘s Russ Read.

Yesterday the reason why became obvious as several Iranian vessels tried to block the passage of a British crude oil tanker through the strait but were thwarted by a British warship. “HMS Montrose was forced to position herself between the Iranian vessels and British Heritage and issue verbal warnings to the Iranian vessels, which then turned away,” a British government spokesman said in a statement, as reported by Reuters.

“We are concerned by this action and continue to urge the Iranian authorities to de-escalate the situation in the region,” the statement said.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps denied any involvement.

‘FOLLOW THE DAMN LAW’: The Trump administration’s use of an emergency declaration to expedite $8.1 billion in arms sales to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan isn’t sitting well with some Republican members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, notably Ted Cruz of Texas.

“The process that the State Department followed for these weapon sales, not to put too fine a point on it, was crap,” the senator said at yesterday’s committee grilling of State Department official R. Clarke Cooper over what Cruz and others see as a clear violation of the Arms Export Control Act. Cruz excoriated Cooper for circumventing the law in what he called “a not-fully-baked decision-making process.”

“Do not make the mistake of thinking that it is simply Democrats who are concerned about this,” Cruz said. “I voted with the administration on the substance because of the threat of Iran, but I’ll tell you from my end, if the administration does it again and there is not a live and exigent emergency, you will not have my vote, and I predict you will not have the vote of a number of other Republicans as well. The simpler process is follow the damn law and respect it.”

In his May 24 declaration, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he intended the emergency determination “to be a one-time event.”

EARTHQUAKE RELIEF: House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and fellow California Republican Paul Cook are pushing to get $100 million to rebuild a naval base that spans their districts, which were rocked last week by twin earthquakes.

Their amendment to the NDAA would prioritize necessary repair and modernization work at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, a military installation that is still not “mission capable” after 6.4 and 7.1 earthquakes hit Kern and San Bernardino counties on July 4 and July 5. It is likely to be considered on the House floor today.

TELL ME HOW THIS ENDS: The Center for Strategic and International Studies is out with a new report, “Tell Me How This Ends: Military Advice, Strategic Goals, and the ‘Forever War’ in Afghanistan.”

“After expending nearly $800 billion and suffering over 2,400 killed, the United States is still there, having achieved at best a stalemate,” writes CSIS’s Mark Cancian, who concludes that the mission in Afghanistan “expanded from a limited focus on counterterrorism to a broad nation-building effort without discussion about the implications for the duration and intensity of the military campaign.”

Among his recommendations: improve the dialogue between senior military and civilian officials, revise military doctrine, and take more seriously the history and experience of others.

The Rundown

Breaking Defense: Trump Threatens NDAA Veto If House Cuts Stand

Washington Examiner: Trump preparing to shred key remaining remnants of Iran nuclear deal

Politico: Trump’s newest ‘central casting’ general

USNI News: China’s Influence Growing in Western Hemisphere

Wall Street Journal: A Spy Case Exposes China’s Power Play In Central Asia

Washington Post: Spat between U.S. allies South Korea and Japan reaches ‘emergency’ levels, Moon says

New York Times: Taliban Target Afghan Soldiers’ Families In Quest For Revenge

Reuters: Assad Hits A Wall In Syrian War As Front Lines Harden

Talk Media News: Southern Command head says more help needed now

Military Times: Blast From The Past: The Pentagon’s Updated War Plan For Tactical Nukes

Reuters: Soviet Sub That Sank Off Norway In 1989 Still Emitting Radiation

The Diplomat: Russia Offers India Joint Development Of New Diesel-Electric Attack Submarine

Reuters: North Korea Calls South Korea’s F-35 Jet Purchases ‘Extremely Dangerous Action’

Washington Examiner: U.S. answers Taiwan’s plea for tanks despite Beijing’s anger

Washington Examiner: Opinion: China just threatened the U.S. over Taiwan

Calendar

THURSDAY | JULY 11

8 a.m. 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel. National Defense Industrial Association Integrated Air and Missile Defense Symposium “Defense Against Emerging Threats.” Speakers include: Navy Vice Adm. Jon Hill, director of the Missile Defense Agency, and Richard De Fatta, director of the Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command’s Future Warfare Center.

8:30 a.m. 300 First Street S.E. Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies discussion on “Missile Defense and Directed Energy,” with former Missile Defense Agency director retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Trey Obering, executive vice president of Booz Allen Hamilton. www.mitchellaerospacepower.org

9 a.m. 8th & I Streets S.E. Retiring Gen. Robert Neller relinquishes command of the U.S. Marine Corps to new commandant Gen. David Berger in a change of command ceremony at the Marine Barracks. www.marines.mil

9:30 a.m. G-50 Dirksen Senate Office Building. Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the nomination of Army Gen. Mark Milley for reappointment to the grade of general and to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings

10:30 a.m. 1025 Connecticut Avenue N.W. SETA Foundation discussion on “U.S.-Turkey Relations Three Years After the July 15 Coup Attempt.” Speakers include Mehdi Eker, head of the Turkish Parliamentary Friendship Group for the USA. setadc.org/events

10:30 a.m. 37th and O Streets N.W. Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, the U.S.-Afghan Women’s Council, and the Alliance in Support of the Afghan People discussion on “Ensuring An Inclusive Afghan Peace Process.” Speakers: Former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues Melanne Verveer and Afghan Ambassador to the United States Roya Rahmani.

FRIDAY | JULY 12

8:30 a.m. 300 First Street S.E. Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies a discussion on “Missile Defense: A Review and Assessment,” with Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala. www.mitchellaerospacepower.org

11 a.m. Pentagon River Entrance. Acting Defense Secretary Mark Esper welcomes Uzbekistan’s Defense Minister Bakhodir Kurbanov to the Pentagon.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“The process that the State Department followed for these weapon sales, not to put too fine a point on it, was crap. … The simpler process is follow the damn law and respect it.”

Sen. Ted Cruz complaining that the Trump administration’s end run around Congress to expedite arms sales to Saudi Arabia and others was a “not-fully-baked decision” designed to circumvent the law.

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