Ayotte grills Welsh on Post’s treason comments

U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte grilled Chief of Staff of the Air Force, General Mark A. Welsh III, during the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing today on the impact of the Budget Control Act of 2011 and sequestration on U.S. national security.

Ayotte began her questioning with a statement and a question of each of the witnesses. “When our men and women volunteer for service in the Armed Services they give up a number rights that the rest of us enjoy. They allow our government to tell them what to wear, what to do, where to live, and to some extent – they give up – to some degree what they can say. Most importantly, they’re obviously willing to sacrifice their lives to defend our nation. In return for these restrictions and expectations, Congress has guaranteed these brave men and women the ability to communicate with us. I believe that this is very important. In fact, Congress put in place a law that prohibits anyone from restricting a member of the Armed Forces from communicating with a member of Congress. Do all of you agree that this is important?”

Welsh, General Raymond T. Odierno, Chief of Staff of the Army, Admiral Jonathan W. Greenert, Chief of Naval Operations, and General Joseph F. Dunford, Jr., Commandant of the Marine Corps all responded yes.

Ayotte strongly condemned Post’s reported comments and emphasized the legal right of service members to communicate with Congress.

In response to Ayotte’s questions, General Welsh confirmed publicly that the Air Force is conducting an investigation into Major General Post’s alleged comments.

“The Department of Defense [Inspector General] is overseeing an investigation being run by [the Secretary of the Air Force Inspector General] and will present the facts to the Committee as soon as that investigation is complete.” said General Welsh.

Ayotte pressed General Welsh to denounce Major General Post’s reported comments and asked all of the service chiefs to commit to supporting the legal rights of service members to communicate with Congress. All of the service chiefs made that commitment to Senator Ayotte. She also asked General Welsh to commit that the Air Force would not take any punitive action against airmen and women who exercise their lawful right to communicate with Congress – particularly in light of concerns that the Air Force may be seeking to identify which personnel have communicated with Congress.

She said, “I just want to be clear, because what I’m hearing is that there’s actually an investigation going on in reverse to find out who has communicated with Congress, and to me that seems the opposite of what we would be trying to accomplish… So I hope that there will be no punishment or any kind of pursuit of people trying to communicate with Congress. Will you commit to me with that?”

General Welsh responded, “Senator, I know of nothing along those lines at all, I would be astonished by that and certainly I’m not part of it, the Secretary is not part of it and I would not condone it.”

Last week, Arizona Senator John McCain, Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee called on Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James to investigate the reported comments. “U.S. law clearly states that ‘No person may restrict a member of the armed forces in communicating with a Member of Congress,’ noted in her statement. “The Constitution defines treason as levying War against the United States or providing aid and comfort to our enemies.”

This week, the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) called for the removal of Post. “Major General James Post accused service members of committing treason if they communicated with Congress about the successes of the A-10, a reliable and inexpensive aircraft the Air Force is trying to retire. The Air Force’s goal is to make room for the vastly more expensive and unproven F-35 Joint Strike Fighter,” the POGO statement read. “Airmen who have come forward to Congress with concerns about retiring the A-10 have a constitutional right to tell Congress why they believe this plan endangers troops’ lives. Telling airmen that telling the truth is treasonous is not only wrong, it demands a swift rebuke.”

“Maj. Gen. Post’s bullying comment shows he lacks the judgment to continue in his current role of vice commander of the Air Force’s Air Combat Command,” concluded the POGO statement.

“Major General Post’s comments are an effort to keep Congress from knowing precisely the kind of information they want and need to know–the A-10’s operational capability for current threats–when evaluating the Air Force’s budget request,” POGO’s Mandy Smithberger told the ADI today in an email. “We’re glad Senator McCain has asked for an investigation, but no one has denied that these comments were made and it’s obvious that these comments were intended to create a toxic culture of retaliation against whistleblowers.”

Smithberger continued, “If Senator Ayotte is correct that the Air Force has initiated a reverse investigation of pilots who have spoken to Congress about the A-10, all of the officials who ordered that investigation should also be removed for undermining service members’ constitutional rights.”

After a post on the John Q. Public website, the ADI reached out to USAF officials who did not deny that Post had made the comments. Instead they attempted to downplay the admonition as hyperbole. In response to questions about the General’s statement, an Air Combat Command spokesperson told the ADI:

“The general’s use of hyperbole in his comments during a recent discussion with attendees at a Tactics Review Board at Nellis were intended to communicate a serious point: the Air Force decision on recommended actions/strategic choices for the constrained fiscal environment has been made and the service’s position communicated.”

While subsequent government debate will continue at the highest levels as those recommendations and other options are evaluated, our job as Airmen is to continue to execute our mission and duties–certainly our role as individual military members is not to engage in public debate or advocacy for policy.”

At their core, the general’s comments recognize Air Combat Command’s responsibility to organize, train, and equip the best Combat Air Force in the world while preparing for tomorrow’s challenges. He called on Airmen to support decisions made to that end–first by the Air Force and ultimately, if approved, by our civilian government leadership.”

Sources say that Post’s statements did not appear to be hyperbolic at all. The general stated clearly, and the spokesperson’s statement confirms the conference attendees’ impression; if they speak to members of Congress they are viewed and will be treated as traitors in contravention to 10 U.S. Code § 1034.

From the official Twitter account for the USAF Press Desk:

.@GenMarkWelsh I support any Airman’s right to discuss anything they’d like to with Congress #SASC #sequestration hearing

— USAF Pressdesk (@usafpressdesk) January 28, 2015