Lawmakers clash over VA sexual misconduct report

House members clashed Wednesday over the handling of a sexual assault case by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), with Republicans accusing the Biden administration of “dereliction of duty” and Democrats accusing their GOP colleagues of exaggerating the facts. 

The VA’s Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection (OAWP) sent a report to House lawmakers last month, in which it found inappropriate relationships within the department’s Office of Resolution Management, Diversity & Inclusion (ORMDI).

The report named supervisors whom it found had sent sexual images and messages to subordinates, recommending firing one senior official in the office and punishing another four who either acted inappropriately or failed to take appropriate action. 

Rep. Mike Bost (R-Ill.), chair of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, started the hearing by pressing VA Secretary Denis McDonough on what Bost called significant missteps in responding to sexual harassment concerns within the VA. 

He said the VA failed to initiate an investigation and take prompt action when a whistleblower notified them of allegations. Bost also criticized McDonough’s lack of response to a letter Bost sent and the refusal by some former leaders in Veterans Affairs to testify, and he said the committee is still waiting on a number of subpoenaed documents from the department. 

Bost said that the VA’s response was a “blatant dereliction of duty” and that leaders failed to take the situation seriously. He specifically pushed for accountability from department leaders such as McDonough and former Assistant Secretary Gina Grosso, who resigned the day after an investigation of the situation was made public.  

“Every level of the VA failed,” Bost said. “As long as I’m chairman, this committee will not fail.”

McDonough later said that Grosso’s resignation was initiated prior to the allegations.

The OAWP report found that Archie Davis, an executive assistant at the diversity and inclusion office, “sexted” with a subordinate in the department and sent graphic images to another. 

At one point Davis responded to photos saying “you’re holding back” and “where are the real photos at?” OAWP said in the report. 

The report also named supervisor Gary Richardson as engaging in inappropriate conduct of a sexual nature and said Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Jeffrey Mayo and supervisor Harvey Johnson failed to take appropriate actions when notified of allegations.

“Given that Respondent Johnson was Davis’ immediate supervisor, he either knew or should have known of Davis’ wide-ranging and pervasive misconduct, yet he failed to take appropriate supervisory action to address Davis’s behavior and, in fact, rated Davis exceptional in every category,” The Jan. 26 report states. 

OAWP recommended firing Davis and clawing back bonuses from three others involved. It also suggested creating an anti-fraternization policy, which the VA currently doesn’t have, and said ORMDI should rework its policies to more effectively investigate and stop harassment.

“The mountain of evidence and testimony revealed an office replete with misconduct, including misconduct by organization leaders, which spawned an environment where inappropriate conduct was rampant,” the Jan. 26 report states.

Ranking member Mark Takano (D-Calif.) said while it is important to make the VA a harassment-free environment, Republicans’ presentation of the investigation was misleading. 

He said the investigation did not prove that there was a wider culture of leadership purposefully ignoring claims, that supervisors retaliated against employees for turning down sexual advances or that the most senior leaders engaged in mismanagement. 

Takano also pushed back on Bost’s criticisms of the VA’s cooperation with the committee’s subpoena. He said the department has already submitted a large number of documents and is taking a reasonable amount of time to provide the rest.

“Nothing is more important than the truth,” Takano said. “My colleagues across the aisle are either being intentionally reckless and cavalier with the truth or willfully blind as they continue to push their narrative of widespread misconduct.” 

In a Feb. 5 press release about the OAWP report, Bost said it was “damning and substantiated many of the serious allegations the Committee uncovered.” During the hearing, Takano said it showed that Republicans were exaggerating some issues for political gain. 

Takano said the committee should return to its “core responsibilities” — oversight and legislation. 

“We are not judges, nor are we jurors,” Takano said. “Oversight in this committee is not a trial. Oversight is the examination of facts and policies in consideration of what is working and what is not working. And in the case of this committee, [it] is the assessment of what is working for veterans.” 

Rep. Julia Brownley (D-Calif.) said Republicans had misled other committee members and tried to use the situation to push a pro-woman stance. 

“I voted with you when your proposal subpoenaed more documents,” Brownley told Bost, “but now I know of OAWP’s findings and conclusions that seem to be quite the contrary from what was stated in that meeting.” 

“It seems to me that as the majority has carried out the investigation, I think they’ve tried to perhaps paint a picture and paint themselves to be the party with more women — carefully crafted remarks may sound like they support women, but I need to point out that their voting records and actions say a different story.” 

Brownley pointed to Republicans letting the Women’s Veterans Task Force expire and supporting restrictions for reproductive health care for female veterans and soldiers. 

Rep. Greg Murphy (R-N.C.) said he was appalled by the accusation. 

“This is about women,” Murphy said. “This is about an individual who was sexually harassed, then the VA ignored it. This has nothing to do with politics. I take great umbrage at the insinuation that this is a witch hunt because of the administration that is in power.”

Some representatives also presented concerns about the privacy of individuals involved. Bost said he had done everything possible to get the whistleblower’s approval before acting and worked to keep the person’s name as low-profile as possible. 

The committee made names of the accused public, which Takano said made it easy to deduce who else was involved in the situation. 

“I respectfully say to you that we have handled this with the proper legal moves on everything that we did, and trying to make sure that the victims are not overexposed,” Bost said, adding it was vital that the accused were made public.

McDonough told the committee that the VA plans to take multiple steps to strengthen policies, procedures and training to improve the handling of sexual harassment allegations and eliminate harassment within the organization. 

He said he has no memory of reading Bost’s letter but did acknowledge that he received it at some point and apologized for not reading it. 

“The VA does not tolerate sexual harassment,” McDonough said. “And we’re committed to [ensuring] that every employee works in a safe, welcoming, harassment-free environment.”

“I fell short of that,” he added. “I assure veterans and this committee that we have taken these allegations of wrongdoing seriously.”