A now-retired Air Force major general was stripped of a star after an inspector general investigation found he engaged in multiple inappropriate sexting relationships – including with an enlisted airman and congressional staffers – and had an affair with a married woman.
Maj. Gen. Christopher Finerty left his position as the Air Force’s legislative liaison director in March 2023, the Air Force said. That was roughly two months after an IG complaint was filed that alleged he engaged in “unprofessional and inappropriate relationships with multiple women.”
Finerty retired in November 2024 after the conclusion of an officer grade determination that demoted him to brigadier general, the Air Force said.
The IG concluded in a September 2023 report that Finerty violated the Uniform Code of Military Justice’s rules against “conduct unbecoming an officer” by engaging in inappropriate relationships with five women. The report, first reported about by Politico, was only recently posted online.
Finerty fraternized with an enlisted airman by exchanging suggestive texts and having cybersex with her at least seven times, the report said. He also had a three-month extramarital sexual relationship with a married Defense Department civilian employee, both of which are behaviors also prohibited by the UCMJ.
“The preponderance of the evidence supports Maj. Gen. Finerty’s conduct fell well below the expectations of an Air Force general officer, disgraced him professionally, and compromised his standing as both an officer and a gentleman,” the report concluded.
Finerty previously supervised the enlisted airman before they began exchanging suggestive texts, but there was no evidence of an inappropriate relationship at that time, the IG said. Years later, they became reacquainted and “began to have a more personal relationship,” the report said.
Their texts included Finerty calling her “You sexy b[—-]” and exchanging sexually explicit memes. Finerty sent her a shirtless picture, and she sent a collage of “sexually intimate” photographs of her, the report said.
Finerty acknowledged to investigators that his behavior came “close to a line,” but he maintained that he never crossed it, saying the relationship never became physical. The “intimate exchanges” in the messages amounted to “fantasy banter,” he argued.
Finerty did not think his behavior amounted to fraternization. Because the messages were private, they did not damage good order and discipline, he claimed.
The IG said the “extreme rank disparity” between Finerty and the enlisted airman and the “sexually charged” communications was conduct that lowered the public’s view of the officer corps and damaged the respect enlisted airmen have for officers. His fraternization with the airman “was of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces,” the report said.
The IG also blasted Finerty for his romantic affair with a DOD civilian, who was married to another military officer. Finerty told investigators he thought she was separated or divorced, in part because she wasn’t wearing her wedding ring.
But the IG concluded he had no good reason to think the civilian employee was separated or divorced. The employee told Finerty she was married, and she never gave Finerty reason to think her husband was not living with her. Finerty even acknowledged in one text, “You are married.” However, the employee told the IG they rarely discussed her marriage during the time they were having an affair, as she described it.
The other three women Finerty sexted — one of whom he had an intimate relationship with — worked in Congress and had jobs affecting the Air Force, the report said. This “mix[ed] his professional and personal roles” and created the perception of a conflict of interest, the report said. Witnesses felt his conduct was “highly inappropriate,” “counterproductive” and “totally unprofessional.”
“Maj. Gen. Finerty was the head of the [Department of the Air Force] organization with the primary role of bridging congressional staffers and leaders with the Air Force,” the report said. “Behavior that breaches the level of trust and professionalism expected of legislative liaisons is a serious matter.”
He texted one woman — including exchanging sexts and pornographic images — on a “nearly daily basis,” the IG said.
In one instance, Finerty’s texts with a woman segued directly from a discussion of protecting funding for top Air Force priorities such as the F-35 and Next Generation Air Dominance to her sending multiple pornographic photos.
Finerty’s inappropriate relationships were well-known in his office, and one witness described them as “the worst kept secret in SAF/LL,” the acronym for the legislative liaison branch. That witness said his staff believed the relationship was unethical, and it likely created a morale problem.
While no witnesses could testify to seeing Finerty giving or receiving preferential treatment or favoritism as a result of his relationships, multiple witnesses said even a perception could be damaging to the department.
Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News. He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations.
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