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Senate panel: VA watchdog may have covered up veteran abuse
Washington Examiner ^ | 5/31/2016 | Sarah Westwood

Posted on 06/01/2016 8:11:39 AM PDT by huldah1776

Government watchdogs at the Department of Veterans Affairs wrongly closed a years-long investigation into failures at a Wisconsin VA hospital and attempted to prevent a report about the probe from going public, the Senate Homeland Security Committee has concluded.

The alleged cover-up was detailed in a report released Tuesday by the committee, which has looked into allegations of veteran mistreatment at the Tomah, Wis., VA hospital for the past 16 months.

Committee investigators detailed a pattern of stonewalling and evasion from the VA's inspector general, which declined to provide documents and answer questions about aspects of the Tomah probe despite having conducted its own investigation into the same problems in 2013.

For example, the VA inspector general refused to provide Sen. Ron Johnson, chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, with draft versions of a report on the Tomah inspection that might have shed light on information that was removed from the final document.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Government; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: attorneygeneral; military; overmedicate; va
Can't have justice when the Department of Justice is corrupt. Oohrah, Senate Homeland Security Committee!

"A whistleblower at the facility committed suicide in 2009, the same day he was fired from the Tomah center for "vague" reasons after raising concerns about the amount and type of drugs being given to veteran patients."

So what do you do when the DOinJ which is supposed to protect the whistleblower is useless?

1 posted on 06/01/2016 8:11:39 AM PDT by huldah1776
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To: huldah1776

Sure glad we don’t treat illegals this bad.

They may not want to come here anymore.


2 posted on 06/01/2016 8:14:12 AM PDT by 2banana (My common ground with terrorists - they want to die for islam and we want to kill them)
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To: huldah1776

sad when even the Watchdogs play with justice......


3 posted on 06/01/2016 8:26:32 AM PDT by blueyon (The U. S. Constitution - read it and weep)
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To: 2banana

Great comment! Illegals get better treatment and assistance than the veterans who have selflessly served our country.


4 posted on 06/01/2016 8:26:40 AM PDT by Starboard
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To: blueyon

Generally speaking, agency IG’s across the government are pretty independent and function with a fairly high degree of integrity.

But VA is a clear exception. It is obviously totally corrupt and this is condoned at the highest levels of the government.


5 posted on 06/01/2016 8:30:26 AM PDT by Starboard
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To: huldah1776

“A whistleblower at the facility committed suicide in 2009, the same day he was fired from the Tomah center for “vague” reasons after raising concerns about the amount and type of drugs being given to veteran patients.”

I’d be investigating whether this was truly a suicide or not...sounds like part of the cover-up.


6 posted on 06/01/2016 9:00:11 AM PDT by jacknhoo (Luke 12:51. Think ye, that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, no; but separation.)
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To: huldah1776

Seems whistleblower protection is still being defined. New bill submitted in March of this year.


7 posted on 06/01/2016 9:09:39 AM PDT by huldah1776 ( Vote Pro-life! Allow God to bless America before He avenges the death of the innocent.)
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To: jacknhoo

Flashed through my mind, too.


8 posted on 06/01/2016 9:10:28 AM PDT by huldah1776 ( Vote Pro-life! Allow God to bless America before He avenges the death of the innocent.)
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To: huldah1776

Why does the VA hate Veterans???


9 posted on 06/01/2016 10:56:47 AM PDT by hal ogen (First Amendment or Reeducation Camp?.)
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To: huldah1776

Anyone who believed the ‘No FEAR’ training was too stupid to work for the taxpayers, anyway. It’s rare that a whistleblower will come out of the process whole.

As to this case, who believes the suicide verdict.


10 posted on 06/01/2016 11:06:35 AM PDT by PAR35
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To: Starboard
Generally speaking, agency IG’s across the government are pretty independent and function with a fairly high degree of integrity.

Depends on the agency. The ones at the SBA after Katrina were certainly team players.

11 posted on 06/01/2016 11:08:06 AM PDT by PAR35
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To: hal ogen

There are many, many good people at the VA however, being protected by the unions and the Department of InJustice makes the minority a resistant virus and symptomatically contagious.


12 posted on 06/01/2016 11:11:11 AM PDT by huldah1776 ( Vote Pro-life! Allow God to bless America before He avenges the death of the innocent.)
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