In addition to the public scandal, Donnelly said the latest numbers on sexual assaults within the military continue a disturbing rise.
“The numbers are still going up, the numbers of actual case,” she said. “And, get this, the number of male-on-male sexual assaults also are continuing to increase. In 2010, that percentage was under 10 percent. Last time I checked, it was 17 percent. Now, it’s north of 20 percent. What is going on here?”
Donnelly believes that opened a Pandora’s Box of sexual activity in the U.S. military.
“The military is now a libertine institution. There are very few limitations on sexual conduct other than being consensual,” Donnelly said. “If any kind of sexual expression in the military is now OK, how do you draw the lines? There are no lines anymore.”
In the Senate hearings Tuesday, lawmakers demanded answers from Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller. Donnelly was not impressed.
“The members of the Senate who looked at the commandant of the Marine Corps, almost yelled at him, Sen. (Kirsten) Gillibrand, ‘How did this happen? Who is accountable?'” Donnelly said.
“Excuse me, Sen. Gillibrand, you are accountable or should be held accountable because you voted to repeal the 1993 law that spelled out the fact that disciplinary regulations apply on base and off base,” she said.
Donnelly said the photo scandal and the rise in assaults are all due to politicians foisting a social agenda upon the military.
“The results of eight years of Barack Obama are now coming forward,” she said. “This nude picture scandal is only a small part of it.”