Top Trump aide suppressed VA whistleblowers, department investigator finds

Source: Politico | October 24, 2019 | Arthur Allen

A political operator who led an office created by President Donald Trump to expose wrongdoing at the Department of Veterans Affairs used his position to quash whistleblowers and retaliate against foes, according to an inspector general report released Thursday.

The accusations involve Peter O’Rourke, who Trump appointed in 2017 to lead the new Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection, and his successor, Kirk Nicholas.

The inspector general audit said that under O’Rourke and Nicholas, the whistleblower’s office ended investigations into allies of senior officials, failed to consistently report to Congress and refused to honor whistleblowers’ demands for anonymity. The office used unfair and shoddy investigative procedures, and in some cases didn’t interview the subjects of some complaints, the report said.

The VA said it agreed with the report’s recommendations but faulted the inspector general for failing to note the agency had already resolved many of the cited problems. The agency has fired more than 8,600 people since the VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act took effect in June 2017.

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