In Admiral's Bribery Case, Defendants Say Deeper Navy Cultural Problems Are on Display

Tamara Ceaikovski

In the waning days of the Biden administration, the Justice Department undertook a rare prosecution of a recently retired four-star Navy admiral, alleging he was bribed with a job in exchange for steering lucrative contracts to a company charged with training top leaders. The case conjures comparisons to the Fat Leonard scandal -- the sprawling investigations and prosecutions that snared U.S. naval officers as part of a civilian defense contractor's decade-long bribery scheme. Now, the new