WP,pg1: Walter Reed launches criminal investigation of former aid chief: Official had own charity

[DeepModem Mom]

Hospital Investigates Former Aid Chief
Walter Reed Official Had Own Charity
By Dana Priest and Anne Hull
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, February 20, 2007; Page A01

For the past three years, Michael J. Wagner directed the Army's largest effort to help the most vulnerable soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. His office in Room 3E01 of the world-renowned hospital was supposed to match big-hearted donors with thousands of wounded soldiers who could not afford to feed their children, pay mortgages, buy plane tickets or put up visiting families in nearby hotels.

But while he was being paid to provide this vital service to patients, outpatients and their relations, Wagner was also seeking funders and soliciting donations for his own new charity, based in Texas, according to documents and interviews with current and former staff members. Some families also said Wagner treated them callously and made it hard for them to receive assistance.

Last week, Walter Reed launched a criminal investigation of Wagner after The Washington Post sought a response to his activities while he ran the Army's Medical Family Assistance Center, a position he left several weeks ago. Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman, the commander at Walter Reed, said the probe by the Criminal Investigation Command (CID) "reflects the seriousness with which we take these allegations."

Weightman's legal adviser, Col. Samuel Smith, said that "it would clearly be a conflict of interest" prohibited by federal law, Army regulations and Defense Department ethics rules if Wagner used his position to solicit funds for his own organization.

The saga of the Medical Family Assistance Center is just one example of the problems at Walter Reed, where nearly 700 soldiers and Marines from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan live as outpatients while recuperating. Some families are happy with the help they received from Wagner and his office, and many soldiers and their families applauded the dedication of workers there. Others said that they had problems with Wagner and that the center seemed chaotic and disorganized....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/19/AR2007021901113.html

[SharonAnn]

1. Official had own "charity"! And he's from Texas. And the charity is in Texas.

And he's now working for that "charity".

Is he Tom Delay?

[DeepModem Mom]

5. You're quick, SharonAnn! "Charity...Texas." It does sound familiar! nt

[Aviation Pro]

2. Yet another Bush crony....

...caught with his hands in the cookie jar and his pants around his ankles.

Heckuva job, Wagnie, heckuva job.

[Erika]

3. I've already emailed my DC reps about this and bldg #18

I will call them tomorrow. This is utterly disgusting.

Please, everyone, stand up and let our reps know how phony the GOP is at the cost to our troops.

I am outraged!

[Monkeyman]

6. Thank You From This Vet

[Erika]

12. Thank you monkeyman

We will have buried 3 Idaho kids by the end of this week
because of W's war of choice. It really burns me he and the GOP allow this war profiteering by their own.

[Up2Late]

9. Is this another piece from their series "THE OTHER WALTER REED"?

Has someone already posted the other parts of that? I heard about it today on NPR: <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7489265>

[nickyt]

4. I like this particular line:

Wagner said his superiors "knew of my involvement right from the beginning." (Maj. Gen. George W.) Weightman (the commander at Walter Reed) said the command had been unaware of Wagner's Texas charity until recently.

Oops.

[nickyt]

7. A little background from his new site:

Staff and Board

Who we are

Meet the People that Make this Foundation Possible
Phoenix Project

Executive Board

Michael J. Wagner, Ph.D., Colonel (Retired) USAR
Executive Director and Chairman

Doctorate in Educational Psychology, (minor in Management and Policy); Masters in Counseling; Fifteen years professional experience as a development and project manager, eighteen years in research, and five years as a counselor; Internationally recognized author; Colonel, US Army Retired Reserves Medical Service Corps; Served as Director, Medical Family Assistance Center, Walter Reed Army Medical Center for three years; Served as operations officer, US Army Office of the Surgeon General; Principal, The Wagner Group

http://www.mvfa.org/mvfa%20about%20us.html

on edit - anyone know who this "Wagner Group" is?

[Monkeyman]

8. I have seen these people before Where I don't know

But I have seen them at a Veterans event

[Monkeyman]

11. Wow I just remembered A Bush fund raiser

We where there to protest these people came to that event.

[Erika]

10. We let his web site know what we thought of his credibility.

I hope he ends up in prison. Thanks for the address.