In 2014 the Department
of Veterans Affairs was awash in a scandal over massive wait times in its
health care system, particularly at one hospital in Phoenix. In the aftermath,
Congress and the White House took steps to reform the VA.
The scandal put a
national spotlight on some of the financial incentives the VA used to encourage
quicker and better care and how those incentives drove some VA employees to
cheat the system, so they could continue getting pay bonuses even as they delivered
abominable services to the men and women who have served this great nation.
When President Trump
took office, he appointed a new Secretary of Veterans Affairs making
accountability a major focus of VA reforms.
A scathing
report has emerged which found Secretary of Veterans Affairs David
Shulkin’s chief of staff attempted to cover up travel expenses incurred by
Shulkin's wife, Dr. Merle Bari, by doctoring an email with false statements
making it possible for Bari to travel at taxpayer expense.
The report comes as
Shulkin, the only holdover from the Obama administration in President Trump’s
Cabinet, is in the midst of a difficult attempt to overhaul the troubled VA
and, in particular, its health care system.
An 11-member Veterans
Administration delegation, including Bari and six members of Shulkin's security
detail, traveled to Great Britain and Denmark last July, at a total VA cost of $122,334,
according to the report. The trip included a tour of Westminster Abbey,
attendance at the women's final at Wimbledon and a cruise along the Thames
River.
Inspector General
Michael J. Missal began his review last October after The Washington Post discovered
Shulkin and his wife had spent nearly half their time on personal activities
during the European trip. The VA said the two flew commercially and taxpayers
covered her airfare as part of "temporary duty" travel expenses.
The audit found the
trip violated a cost-saving directive that Shulkin himself had issued to the Department
weeks prior to the trip to avoid unnecessary expenses.
Vivieca Wright Simpson,
who had served at the Department for 32 years, had been a target of critics
within the VA for what they saw as bureaucratic inaction on a host of reforms proposed by President
Trump’s administration. She had previously served as Shulkin’s chief of
staff at the Veterans Health Administration before he was promoted to the Department’s
top post. Simpson is the same person who
in 2014 tried to get VA employees to hide evidence of the VA wait-time scandal
from members of Congress. She has since
resigned.
IG Missal’s
findings included (1) the Chief of Staff’s alteration of a document and
misrepresentations to ethics officials caused Secretary Shulkin’s wife to be approved
as an “invitational traveler,” which authorized VA to pay her travel costs
(although only airfare was claimed); (2) Secretary Shulkin improperly accepted
a gift of Wimbledon tickets and related hospitality; (3) a VA employee’s time
was misused as a personal travel concierge to plan tourist activities exceeding
that necessary for security arrangements; and (4) travelers’ documentation was
inadequate to determine the trip’s full costs to VA. The OIG did not assess the
value of the trip to VA or determine whether the Europe travel, as conducted,
was “essential,” per VA policy. The IG
has also referred the matter to the Department of Justice for potential
criminal prosecution.
Shulkin, in an
appearance on Capitol Hill on February 15th, suggested her emails may have been
hacked by individuals working against his leadership team.
“We act with the
highest ethical character,” Shulkin said. “I relied upon my staff to do this,
and in retrospect, I wish that I had asked more questions.”
According to a published
report by The
Daily Caller, Shulkin implied to Congress she might not have been
responsible for that email; it might have been a hacker impersonating her. He insisted the department
has “found there are people sending emails from her account that aren’t her.”
In that same Daily
Caller report, it was noted, “An hour after he left the newsroom the Department’s
website posted a statement saying it had found no evidence of any hack, either
in June or on Wednesday. “We have thus far found no
credible or conclusive evidence of a compromise to our email system or a
user’s account.”
Some observers
questioned Shulkin’s claims that someone was impersonating his chief of staff
and were suspicious that his allegations coincided with the release of the IG
report.
At least one
lawmaker, Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO) an Army and Marine Corps veteran
and member of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, called for Shulkin’s
resignation due to what he says is manipulation of evidence and the implication
to legislators that there was credible reason to think the email might not be
real.
“What we know now is
there’s no evidence of a hack. I think he’s trying to muddy the waters on this.
It’s not the issue itself, it’s the cover-up, it speaks to his lack of
integrity,” he said.
For the record Shulkin
has reimbursed the government the money for his wife’s unauthorized travel and
intends to repay The Invictus Games for the Wimbledon tickets.
Also, The Daily Caller learned
from a senior department official the Secretary has an upcoming official trip
to the Vatican with his wife. The source reiterated that the trip is currently
on the books, saying the pair are scheduled to travel to Vatican City from
April 20 to 29 to attend the Pontifical Council for Culture.
“I am not going on any
trip to the Vatican or any trip abroad. That is not happening” Shulkin
responded.
The Vatican is one of the
few countries in the world that does not have a military. The Council for
Culture includes a show of European art and religious history.
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