WASHINGTON
The husband of the woman who confirmed an extramarital affair with Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Cal Cunningham said he should drop out of the North Carolina race.
Jeremy Todd is an Army veteran who served 19-plus years and severely injured his spine during a paratrooper proficiency jump several years ago. His wife, Arlene Guzman Todd, has confirmed she had an intimate relationship with Cunningham after the candidate’s campaign confirmed the authenticity of suggestive text messages between the two.
“Mr. Cunningham chose to repeatedly engage in activities that would hurt his family and a fellow junior officer and veteran,” Jeremy Todd said in a statement Wednesday to The News & Observer.
“If elected, I can only imagine how misplaced his judgment would be for the people he’s charged to represent,” Todd said. “I firmly believe Mr. Cunningham should drop out of the Senate race and ask that his behavior and actions be reviewed under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.”
Cunningham is running against Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican. Cunningham has not indicated he plans to drop out of the race or suspend his campaign.
The U.S. Army Reserve Command confirmed Wednesday that it is investigating Cunningham, a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve.
“The Army Reserve is investigating the matters involving Lt. Col. James Cunningham. As such, we are unable to provide further details at this time,” said Army Reserve Command, which is based at Fort Bragg, in a statement.
Extramarital affairs are a violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). Whether Cunningham could face charges under the UCMJ may depend upon whether he was on active duty at the time the extramarital activity took place.
James Calvin Cunningham, 47, better known as Cal, is assigned to the 134th Legal Operations Detachment at Fort Bragg for the U.S. Army Reserve Legal Command, according to service records the Army provided to McClatchy.
Cunningham is a married father of two and sent text messages to Guzman Todd, a public relations strategist from California. Arlene Todd confirmed a physical relationship with Cunningham, The Associated Press reported Tuesday.
Affair took place during separation
Jeremy Todd said in a phone interview with The News & Observer that he and Cunningham “served with some of the same people. We know each other.” Todd said he lived in Raleigh from 2013 to 2015 and that he knew Cunningham socially at that point.
Jeremy Todd said he and Arlene Guzman Todd are still married. In his statement, Todd said the affair took place “during our marital separation.”
“I was disappointed to learn about the inappropriate affair between my wife and Mr. Cunningham,” Todd said in the statement.
He said his wife “made mistakes in the communication frequency and content with Mr. Cunningham and others knowledgeable on the topic.” He said he believes the release of text messages “results from foul play with ulterior motives.”
He said some of the text messages released — between Guzman Todd and a third-party — are “completely fabricated, as I’ve seen the real ones.”
A competitive race
Until Wednesday, the Army Reserve has been quiet since news broke of the scandal, other than to release Cunningham’s service records.
Cunningham currently serves in the Judge Advocate General Corps and has been a member of the Army Reserve since November 2002. He served tours in Iraq (December 2007 to November 2008) and Afghanistan (August 2010 to October 2011) and earned a Bronze Star Medal, according to his service records.
Cunningham issued a statement Friday night about the matter, but has not commented since.
“I have hurt my family, disappointed my friends, and am deeply sorry. The first step in repairing those relationships is taking complete responsibility, which I do. I ask that my family’s privacy be respected in this personal matter,” Cunningham said in the statement.
The North Carolina Senate race is seen as key to determining which party controls the U.S. Senate in January. Cunningham has been leading in polls throughout the summer and into the fall.
Tillis said Tuesday that Cunningham “owes the people of North Carolina a full explanation.”
Nearly 400,000 North Carolina voters have already cast their absentee by-mail ballot, according to the North Carolina State Board of Elections. In-person early voting begins Oct. 15.
The investigation
The investigation into Cunningham, known in the Army as a 15-6, will determine what activity took place, and whether Cunningham was on duty status when the activity occurred, said Sean Timmons, a former Army captain who served four years as a judge advocate at Fort Hood, Texas.
Based on what the 15-6 investigation finds, it could recommend:
▪ that Cunningham be charged under the Uniform Code of Military Justice
▪ that he face lesser, but still potentially military career-ending administrative actions
▪ that no action be taken.
Timmons defends military clients against administrative actions and UCMJ charges as a managing partner at the law firm Tully Rinckey.
Timmons said in previous cases he has seen with similar circumstances, military officers have been found in violation of Article 133 of the UCMJ, for conduct unbecoming of an officer, and more rarely, in violation of Article 134 for engaging in extramarital acts.
Even if the 15-6 does not result in charges being referred, and investigators find that Cunningham should face administrative punishment instead, “those are all career-enders,” Timmons said.
The administrative actions, such as a memorandum of reprimand, would make it much more difficult for Cunningham to be promoted in the future, he said.
In the military, service members have a limited number of years to reach the next rank, or they face separation.
For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Domecast politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it on Megaphone, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts.
This story was originally published October 07, 2020 10:01 AM.
Tara Copp
McClatchy DC
