Former Navy intelligence chief took lavish meals and gifts from ‘Fat Leonard’ but is cleared of consorting with prostitutes

By Craig Whitlock March 12 at 3:06 PM

After a four-year investigation, federal authorities concluded that a former Navy intelligence chief accepted extravagant meals, cigars and other illicit gifts from a corrupt defense contractor known as “Fat Leonard,” but they were unable to verify allegations that he also partied with prostitutes, new documents show.

The documents reveal that retired Vice Adm. Ted “Twig” Branch, a fighter pilot and aircraft carrier commander who became the steward of the Navy’s secrets, had a decade-long friendship with Leonard Glenn Francis, a Singapore-based maritime tycoon who has pleaded guilty to bribing scores of military officers and defrauding the Navy of $35 million.

The nature of their relationship had been a long-running mystery. In November 2013, the Navy announced on a Friday night that it had suspended Branch’s access to classified material because he was under criminal investigation by the Justice Department for his ties to Francis. The contractor’s firm held lucrative deals to provide supplies, fuel and port services to Navy vessels in Asia.

For years, Navy and Justice officials remained silent about the investigation, although Navy leaders privately expressed frustration that federal prosecutors were taking so long to review the case. In an unusual twist, the Navy allowed Branch to keep serving as its intelligence boss for more than 1,000 days even though he was barred from reading, seeing or hearing military secrets. Branch retired from the military in October 2016, but the investigation of his conduct continued.

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