Air Force general faces sexual misconduct accusations

WASHINGTON—A female senior military officer has accused the nominee for the Joint Chiefs of Staff vice chairmanship of sexual misconduct. The anonymous accuser told the Associated Press that Gen. John Hyten made repeated inappropriate advances toward her while she was his aide in 2017 and tried to destroy her career after she rejected him. The woman informed the military of Hyten’s alleged conduct immediately after his nomination in April, but an Air Force investigation found insufficient evidence to charge or punish the general. An anonymous senior Air Force official said there was no evidence the accuser was lying but added that investigators went through 10,000 pages of documents and interviewed as many as 50 people without finding corroborating evidence.

The Senate has not yet scheduled Hyten’s confirmation hearing, and Air Force Col. DeDe Halfhill, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said Wednesday that the nomination remains on course. The current vice chairman, Gen. Paul Selva, is retiring at the end of the month.

Sexual misconduct has dogged military institutions in recent years. A Pentagon survey released in February found a more than 50 percent spike in unwanted sexual contact at military academies, and Sen. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., told her colleagues in March she was sexually assaulted while serving in the Air Force.