Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand accuses Pentagon of withholding military assault figures

On Friday, the Pentagon released its annual report on sexual assaults in the military. Now, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) has released her own report criticizing the Pentagon's data.

"I don't think the military is being honest about the problem," Gillibrand told The Associated Press. Gillibrand's critique alleges that the Pentagon didn't provide her with accurate assault figures from several military bases, and she says the actual number of sex crimes is more than what the Defense Department reported.

Gillibrand analyzed 107 military assault cases and found that in most cases, the punishments were "too lenient," AP reports. Less than a quarter of the cases went to trial at all, and only 11 led to a conviction for a sex crime. The Pentagon's report stresses that offenders "will be held accountable," AP reports, but Gillibrand questions that claim. As an example, she cites the case of an airman accused of sexual assault by three different victims who was discharged from the military without going to trial.

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One of Gillibrand's main issues with the Pentagon report is her concern for the spouses of service members and for civilian women who lived near military bases. Gillibrand said that these people are "especially vulnerable" to assault, AP notes, but they aren't included in the Defense Department's reports. A Defense Department spokesperson, meanwhile, told AP that the department "does not have authority to include civilians in its surveys."