The Pentagon’s inspector general has found nothing to point to conduct unbecoming an officer in Gen. Allen’s email communications with a Tampa socialite.
Marine General John R. Allen has been cleared by the Pentagon’s inspector general of any wrongdoing or conduct unbecoming an officer. According to the Washington Post, after an intensive investigation centering on emails between a Tampa socialite, Jill Kelley, and the top US commander in Afghanistan, Allen has been “completely exonerated.” Jill Kelley is the same woman who was involved in the scandal that lead to the resignation of David H. Petraeus from the position of director of the CIA.
Before the scandal, Allen had been nominated by the White House to become the “supreme allied commander” in Europe, but the investigation by the inspector general caused a hold to be put on that nomination. The Post reports,
Allen is scheduled to relinquish command in Afghanistan early next month, and the Pentagon has not yet requested that the Senate Armed Services Committee reschedule his nomination.
Although Allen has been cleared of any wrongdoing, some military officials have questioned whether Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta may have overreacted. However, a senior defense official has stated that Panetta was driven by a desire to “show that the Pentagon was not trying to ignore any potential miscount in the wake of the Petraeus scandal.” He also explained that Panetta referred the emails to the inspector general only after consulting with, and upon recommendation of, both civilian and military attorneys.
Photo: AP/File
adultery is a crime in the military. Bad enough as it is, the likelihood of one or another party being in superior.subordinate rank leads to all kinds of bad stuff.
My question is whether the general, after all of this communicating, had enough time to do his job.
Anyone correct me if I’m wrong here, but as I understand it, “adultery” is an actual criminal offense in the military. I don’t know if either of the two are married, but that could be one of the issues involved. Another issue of conduct unbecoming would be if he used his work e-mail to send personal messages. (I’m not saying either of these should be actionable offenses, just that currently they are.)