McSally Defends Gen. Hyten as Sexual Assault Allegations Loom Large: He 'Is Innocent of These Charges'
Sen. Martha McSally of Arizona, an Air Force veteran who has revealed she was raped by a superior officer while serving her country, on Tuesday told the Senate Armed Services Committee that she does not believe sexual assault allegations against President Donald Trump’s nominee to be the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Gen. John Hyten, who currently oversees U.S. Strategic Command, was accused of sexual assault by Army Col. Kathryn Spletstoser, who said several incidents took place in 2017.
McSally, a Republican, said that she supports Hyten because the facts are on his side.
“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,” the senator said, according to Politico.
“I believe the truth still matters in our country. And the full truth was revealed in this process,” McSally said.
“The truth is that General Hyten is innocent of these charges,” she said. “Sexual assault happens in the military. It just didn’t happen in this case.”
McSally said she spent extensive time investigating the allegations against Hyten.
“I didn’t take coming to this conclusion lightly. I knew the message it could send to sexual assault survivors who haven’t seen all the information on the case that I have,” she said.
McSally said false allegations could lead to women not being promoted so that male superiors could avoid similar situations.
“Don’t take the wrong message from how this is being played out publicly,” she said, according to The Arizona Republic. “The process I just witnessed was strong, fair, and investigators turned over every rock to seek justice. I will continue to fight to ensure the best possible outcomes and to fight for real victims.”
With Spletstoser watching in the audience, McSally said she would “pray the accuser gets the help she needs and finds the peace she is searching for,” The Washington Post reported.
Hyten made his first public comment on the charges Tuesday at the hearing.
“I am intensely aware the allegations made against me concern one of the most serious problems we have in the military: sexual assault,” Hyten said.
“It has been a painful time for me and my family, but I want to state for you and the American people in the strongest possible terms that these allegations are false. Nothing happened, ever,” he said.
Hyten said he supported any effort made by the committee, which has held closed-door sessions on the allegations, to make as much of its information public as possible.
Former Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson, who oversaw the investigation into Hyten, defended him to the committee.
“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 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’s not,” she said. “That possibility makes this whole situation very sad.”
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