Veterans Affairs chief Shulkin, staff misled ethics officials about European trip, report finds

[DonViejo]

Source: The Washington Post




By Lisa Rein February 14 at 11:11 AM

Veterans Affairs Secretary David J. Shulkin’s chief of staff doctored an email and made false statements to create a pretext for taxpayers to cover expenses for the secretary’s wife on a 10-day trip to Europe last summer, the agency’s inspector general has found.

Vivieca Wright Simpson, VA’s third-most senior official, altered language in an email from an aide coordinating the trip to make it appear that Shulkin was receiving an award from the Danish government — then used the award to justify paying for his wife’s travel, Inspector General Michael J. Missal said in a report released Wednesday. VA paid $4,312 for her airfare.

The account of how the government paid travel expenses for the secretary’s wife is one finding in an unsparing investigation that concluded that Shulkin and his staff misled agency ethics officials and the public about key details of the trip. Shulkin also improperly accepted a gift of tickets to a Wimbledon tennis match worth thousands of dollars, the investigation found, and directed an aide coordinating the trip to act as what the report called a “personal travel concierge” to him and his wife.

“Although the [inspector general’s office] cannot determine the value VA gained from the Secretary and his delegation’s three and a half days of meetings in Copenhagen and London at a cost of at least $122,334, the investigation revealed serious derelictions by VA personnel,” the watchdog concluded.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/veterans-affairs-chief-shulkin-staff-misled-ethics-officials-about-european-trip-report-finds/2018/02/14/f7fbc020-0c3a-11e8-8b0d-891602206fb7_story.html?

[pandr32]

1. Let's see--nominated by Trump

All we need to know. Another swamp creature and the last thing the VA needs.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. Vivieca Wright Simpson -- she's been at the VA for 32 years.

She must have known better than to do this.

Vivieca Wright Simpson

[atreides1]

4. Maybe she doesn't know better!

Maybe this was intentional and she went along to get along!

[UpInArms]

3. My level of disgust for this maladminstration

rises daily

🤬🤬🤬🤬

[aggiesal]

5. Can anyone remember when ...

anything like this happened under Obama or Clinton?

I don't remember any such similar incident, but I'll bet if it
happened, the person was immediately dismissed.
If not by the administration, you can bet the Greedy-One-Percent (GOP)
would send in their attack dogs at Faux Nooz to pressure a dismissal.

[jmowreader]

10. It wouldnt have happened under Obama

Obama hired honest people. The people in Trump’s administration seem to be there because they were given the choice of going to prison or accepting a Cabinet post.

[Fla Dem]

12. Well there was the White House Travel Office hoopla

For those that don't remember......it occurred in May 1993, just 4 months into his presidency. While I do think there may have been some shenanigans, the Right was already trying to undermine and destroy his presidency .

The White House travel office controversy, sometimes referred to as Travelgate,[1][2] was the first major ethics controversy of the Clinton administration. It began in May 1993, when seven employees of the White House Travel Office were fired. This action was unusual because although theoretically staff employees serve at the pleasure of the President and could be dismissed without cause, in practice, such employees usually remain in their posts for many years.

The White House stated the firings were done because financial improprieties in the Travel Office operation during previous administrations had been revealed by an FBI investigation. Critics contended the firings were done to allow friends of President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton to take over the travel business and that the involvement of the FBI was unwarranted. Heavy media attention forced the White House to reinstate most of the employees in other jobs and remove the Clinton associates from the travel role.

Further investigations by the FBI and the Department of Justice, the White House itself, the General Accounting Office, the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, and the Whitewater Independent Counsel all took place over the subsequent years. Travel Office Director Billy Dale was charged with embezzlement but found not guilty in 1995. In 1998, Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr exonerated Bill Clinton of any involvement in the matter.

Hillary Clinton gradually came under scrutiny for allegedly having played a central role in the firings and making false statements about her involvement therein. In 2000, Independent Counsel Robert Ray issued his final report on Travelgate. He sought no charges against her, saying that while some of Clinton's statements were factually false, there was insufficient evidence that these statements were either knowingly false or that she understood that her statements led to the firings.

More.....
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House_travel_office_controversy

[50 Shades Of Blue]

6. IOKIYAR!

[sinkingfeeling]

7. Most corrupt group to ever occupy Washington DC.

[bronxiteforever]

11. [phone]

[Cryptoad]

8. All us Vets thank you!

geez,,,,,

[bronxiteforever]

9. Corruption everywhere in Trumpworld

[mahatmakanejeeves]

13. Wait, there's more: "an inexplicable $3,825 overpayment for airport parking."

Retweeted by David Fahrenthold: https://twitter.com/Fahrenthold

“A member of the security team’s expense voucher included “an inexplicable $3,825 overpayment for airport parking.”

Link to tweet

This is so really, really bad: Cost to taxpayers: $122,334. via @reinlwapo and @alexhortontx who helped break the initial story.

Link to tweet

[lanlady]

14. Welcome to swamp draining, Trump style

Since this affects veterans, Trump’s brain dead supporters actually might care about this scandal, for once.

And conveniently, they can blame Obama! Because Shulkin headed up VHA before Trump tapped him to lead the Department.