THE DAILY BEAST – Sen. Joni Ernst was accused Tuesday of having relationships with two military officials—one of them an Air Force general demoted after being busted sexting women on Capitol Hill.
Ernst, a 54-year-old Republican from Iowa, was named as one of the retired Maj. Gen. Christopher Finerty’s conquests in a ProPublica report, which cited two sources familiar with a military probe into his conduct.
Word of Finerty’s promiscuity first emerged in January when a 2023 report by the Air Force’s inspector general became public. The report found Finerty had violated military law by having “sexual, inappropriate, or unprofessional relationships” with multiple women on Capitol Hill. He was demoted and ultimately retired in November.
The report circulated in the press but the names of Finerty’s alleged lovers were redacted.
This makes it impossible to tell which, if any, of the report’s sordid details pertain to Ernst, ProPublica reported. Still, having any sort of “romantic relationship” with a de facto lobbyist—as Finerty has been described as being—has raised ethical concerns.
“Six sources who worked for the Air Force or in Congress told ProPublica that they had heard about a relationship between Ernst and Finerty and there had been concerns about it for years.” – ProPublica, March 4, 2025
One source in the Air Force described the relationship to ProPublica as being “so sleazy” because the branch likely earned favor in Congress as a result.
Ernst, herself a combat veteran, is one of the most influential legislators on military matters. She serves on the Senate’s Armed Services Committee, which oversees the Pentagon, and has an especially influential role in curating its annual budget.
Three sources alleged to ProPublica that Finerty was not Ernst’s only fling with a military official. The report claimed she also had a “romantic relationship” with a Navy legislative affairs official in 2019—the same year she got a divorce.
A “source with knowledge of the situation” told ProPublic that the “relationship’s end created tension between Ernst’s office and the Navy legislative affairs office” …
