Disgraced Air Force general's pardon request accepted by Justice Department
The Justice Department has accepted a pardon application from a disgraced former San Antonio general who was found guilty a year ago of conduct unbecoming an officer and other charges — but was cleared of two counts of sexual assault.
The request is now one of thousands flooding the Justice Department's pardon office, said Air Force Brig. Gen. Phillip Stewart's pro bono attorney, Jeffrey Addicott.
Getting the application accepted "is like 1% of the battle," said Addicott, a retired Army lieutenant colonel and professor at St. Mary's University School of Law. "The 99% is getting it to the attention of President Trump.”
He said it could take years for Trump to hand down a decision.
RELATED: Air Force general punished for 'predatory behavior' asks Trump for pardon
Stewart retired from the Air Force in early May after being stripped of one star, resulting in a pension cut, after a jury of lieutenant generals at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston found him guilty last summer of dereliction of duty and conduct unbecoming an officer.
However, the jury found him not guilty of rape — the most serious allegation against him.
If he'd been convicted of all charges, Stewart would have faced up to 63 years in prison and dismissal from the Air Force, the equivalent of a dishonorable discharge. Instead, he was restricted to Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph for two months and ordered to forfeit $60,000 in salary over six months.
His accuser ended her career last fall.
Stewart, a former commander of the 19th Air Force, the service's San Antonio-based pilot training command, pleaded guilty to adultery but insisted he never raped the woman. She, in turn, insisted she never gave consent.
Stewart was accusing of assaulting the female subordinate at or near Altus Air Force Base in Oklahoma during a business trip there in April 2023.
The encounter occurred during a night of heavy drinking by Stewart and members of his staff, according to trial testimony. The alleged victim, a senior officer on Stewart’s command staff, said he took advantage of his rank and authority to sexually assault her. Stewart contended that the two had a consensual affair.
Addicott argued in Stewart’s pardon application that Trump should exonerate his client because a three-star general general improperly ordered a high-stakes trial that began a year ago.
Lt. Gen. Brian Robinson was within his rights to order a trial because he was acting in his capacity as a court-martial convening authority, but Addicott said he should have followed a recommendation to not try the case. The hearing examiner, Col. Brian Thompson, told Robinson that evidence against Stewart was flimsy and prosecutors had "no likelihood" of securing a sexual-assault conviction at trial.
A spokeswoman for Robinson, head of the Air Education and Training Command at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, defended the action, saying he "thoroughly reviewed all evidence and the Article 32 preliminary hearing officer’s report in deciding to refer all preferred charges to a court-martial.”
Robinson sternly reprimanded Stewart, castigating him for "predatory behavior toward a vulnerable subordinate" — a female officer under his direct command in San Antonio.
"You deviously abused your position of power and shamefully manipulated an airman under your direct and close supervision to engage in sexual acts," Robinson stated in the reprimand.
Stewart later asked the court-martial judge to remove some of the most stinging language from the reprimand. But the judge refused, saying there was "a factual basis" for its harsh tone.
Addicott said he emailed the pardon request on May 22 and received an answer Wednesday.
He said "the president has the authority at any time, from the time that it's accepted, to reach down and bypass all those things and just make a pardon determination on the spot."
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