U.S. to Pay $975,000 to Resolve Sexual Assault Claims Against Air Force General
The federal government has agreed to pay a retired Army colonel $975,000 to resolve a lawsuit she filed in 2019 that accused John E. Hyten, an Air Force general who later became vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, of sexual assault, according to court records.
The retired colonel, Kathryn A. Spletstoser, had accused General Hyten of unwanted sexual advances and touching beginning in 2017, when he was her boss and the commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, responsible for overseeing the country’s nuclear arsenal.
Colonel Spletstoser reported the accusations to military investigators in April 2019 after President Donald J. Trump nominated General Hyten to be vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the country’s No. 2 military officer, helping to oversee the 1.2 million active-duty American troops at home and deployed around the world, according to her lawsuit.
General Hyten strongly denied the accusations, and an Air Force official charged with investigating Colonel Spletstoser’s complaint declined in June 2019 to refer him to a court-martial. But Colonel Spletstoser spoke publicly about the accusations the following month, telling The New York Times that she had a “moral responsibility to come forward” as the Senate considered his nomination.
Source: The New York Times
