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An Army general who was fired for his role in a 'swinging' sex scandal, in which he used a government cellphone and email to conduct an affair, kept his security clearance for five months until the revelation emerged in the media, USA Today reports.

But despite the apparent crackdown on Haight by the Army, the general was still allowed to keep his clearance to review classified information for five months after the Army Inspector General discovered details of Haight's secret, according to documents cited by USA Today. The media outlet noted that his clearance wasn't taken away until a day after the paper published details of the scandal and put the suspension in actual connection with their report.

"The Army waited to suspend the security clearance... until a day after revelations of his double life were published in USA TODAY, the Army has acknowledged," the outlet writes.

Citing two unnamed Army officials, the newspaper also said that Haight did not take a lie detector test at any point, as it was not a requirement for his job. Hence, he was allowed to keep his double life a secret for over a decade and was promoted three times during that time span.

The Army has stripped Maj. Gen. David Haight of three ranks, Army Secretary Eric Fanning said Friday, following revelations contained in documents and interviews of Haight's decade-long extramarital affair and "swinger lifestyle.

A board of his peers called for Haight to be busted to lieutenant colonel, a demotion that will cost him nearly $43,000 per year in pension pay. Fanning, in an interview, said he had accepted the recommendation after a panel of three officers reviewed Haight's conduct — and his secret second life — and determined that lieutenant colonel was the last rank in which he had served satisfactorily.

Fanning spent hours discussing the case with other general officers and read the investigative report twice before accepting the recommendation, he said.

"He's going to be retired as a lieutenant colonel," Fanning said. "Pretty big drop."

Haight's attorney, Army Lt. Col. Sara Root, said Haight deeply regrets the affair but strenuously denies that it affected his service through multiple combat tours.

"He's 100% devoted to his country," Root said. "He has sacrificed a lot for his country. He's not a threat to his country and would never do anything to harm it."

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