There's a boatload of other staffers nearby, to say nothing of individual soldiers who might have their own account of what they heard. It seems unlikely that a

There's a boatload of other staffers nearby, to say nothing of individual soldiers who might have their own account of what they heard. It seems unlikely that a general would really get away with, "oh I didn't hear it" when everyone else there clearly did. I mean, they might escape court martial, but everyone there will know they're full of it.