And the angle to all that that I think you are overlooking is that the society of Naval Admirals is not all that large. They all know and take care of each other. And especially so when family names need protecting!
No I believe if McCain’s behavior in The Hilton had been way out of bounds he would have never received an endorsement from the man I knew who was also a POW at that time and in the Chain of Command loop inside Hilton. I recognize a few other names as well though. All names I recognize were carrier officers and pilots.