Violating Reality: The Lavelle Affair, Nixon, and Parsing the Truth

In September 1972, the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) reviewed the case of Air Force General John D. Lavelle and determined that General Lavelle had conducted unauthorized bombing missions over North Vietnam and ordered the falsification of post-mission reports. As a result, the SASC demoted him to major general in retirement.  In August 2010, after…