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Navy: Admiral seeks retirement in lying case

  • Story Highlights
  • Rear Adm. John Stufflebeem was accused of inappropriate relationship
  • Stufflebeem was fired as director of the Navy staff on March 21
  • Navy says Stufflebeem made "false official statements"
  • Stufflebeem was military aide to President George H.W. Bush in 1990
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Rear Adm. John "Boomer" Stufflebeem has been convicted of making "false official statements" and has requested retirement, a Navy spokesman told CNN Monday.

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John Stufflebeem speaks to the press November 9, 2001, during a briefing at the Pentagon.

Stufflebeem was demoted and fired from his job as director of the Navy staff on March 21 after a Defense Department inspector general's investigation concluded he gave "false and misleading information" during an investigation into allegations he had an inappropriate relationship.

The allegations concerned a period when Stufflebeem was serving as President George H.W. Bush's military aide in 1990.

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead gave Stufflebeem a "punitive letter of reprimand" at an administrative hearing known as an "admiral's mast" Friday, according to Rear Adm. Frank Thorp, the Navy's chief of information.

The investigation began after Navy officials received an anonymous letter alleging the improper relationship.

Stufflebeem was serving as a three-star admiral before his demotion last month, and now is likely to retire at a lower rank, Thorp said.

Stufflebeem became well known in the initial months of the war in Afghanistan, when he often conducted on-camera television briefings as a Pentagon spokesman. He was then deputy director for global operations on the Joint Staff.

He was commander of the 6th Fleet from May 2005 to September 2007. During that time, he also was deputy commander of Naval Forces Europe, joint force maritime component commander in Europe, commander of strike and support forces for NATO, and allied commander with Joint Command Lisbon. E-mail to a friend E-mail to a friend

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