Admiral defends record after coming under investigation in ‘Fat Leonard’ scandal

The admiral nominated to take command of U.S. forces in South America defended his record in the Navy on Tuesday after coming under questioning from Democrats about his involvement in what’s known as the “Fat Leonard” scandal.

Vice Adm. Craig Faller, who currently serves as Defense Secretary James Mattis’s senior military adviser, said investigations have cleared him of all wrongdoing in his interactions with a contractor that has pleaded guilty to bribery and defrauding the military.

{mosads}“After a lengthy and thorough investigation by several different law enforcement organizations, I was cleared of all wrongdoing,” Faller said. “Never solicited, accepted or asked for a gift from Glenn Marine Defense, and every decision I made, event I attended, I had ethics counsel review.”

Faller was responding to a question from Senate Armed Services Committee ranking member Jack Reed (D-R.I.) during the committee’s hearing on his nomination to become the new commander of U.S. Southern Command (Southcom).

The “Fat Leonard” scandal, the worst corruption scandal in Navy history, centers around Malaysian contractor Leonard Glenn Francis, who bribed scores of officers with extravagant parties, luxury gifts, prostitutes and more in exchange for classified information to win lucrative contracts for his Glenn Defense Marine Asia company.

The Washington Post reported Monday that Faller was under investigation for three years by the Justice Department and Navy for his interactions with Francis and was cleared of wrongdoing.

Among Faller’s interactions with Francis, according to the Post, was a lavish 2004 Christmas party in Hong Kong that included scantily clad women dressed as “Santa’s little helpers.” Francis told investigators that he paid for a prostitute to entertain Faller at the party and that he also gave Faller gifts and dinners in later years, according to the Post.

On Tuesday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) hammered Faller on the report.

“I just have to say, this does not pass the smell test for me,” she said.

Faller replied that an ethics counselor reviewed the dinner in question.

“And there was nothing about this dinner that set off any alarm bells in your mind that it either might not meet ethical standards or at least give the appearance of impropriety from the outside?” Warren interjected.

Faller said it did not set off alarm bells.

“Nothing unprofessional, untoward that I witnessed at the dinner,” he said. “The ethics counselor actually attended the dinner.”

Warren replied that she doesn’t think Faller displayed good judgment at the time. She also slammed Faller over the party’s objectification of women.

Faller replied that both male and female officers attended the dinner.

“Every decision I have made in my nearly 40 decades of service has been tried to be through the best ethical lens,” Faller replied. “One of the benchmarks I use is with my wife of 34 years and two grown daughters, if they were present or watching me or saw it on video, would they be embarrassed or what I have discredited them. And I can look you in the eye and the committee and say I believe I passed that benchmark.”

Republican senators came to Faller’s defense. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) reiterated that Faller was cleared by the Navy and Justice Department, saying “the media doesn’t control our justice system.”

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said it appears Faller handled the incident “by the book” and that revisiting it “would be a waste of time here.”

Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) appeared to apologize to Faller for the line of questioning about the scandal, closing the hearing by thanking “Adm. Faller for your tolerance, and I apologize to your family.”