WASHINGTON
– Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is pushing for answers after the Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA) has stonewalled on questions related to allegations of ethics
and conflicts of interest violations at the Veterans Benefits Administration
(VBA).
“Certainly
the Congress has a sufficient interest in whether government employees are potentially
monetizing non-public information for their own financial benefit or that of
their cronies,” Grassley wrote. “It
is deeply troubling that VA is the sole agency to not respond to my inquiry,
especially given the seriousness of the allegations.”
After
Grassley
sought
watchdog reviews of alleged ethics violations, leaking of market-sensitive
information and whistleblower reprisal in April, the VA Office of Inspector
General confirmed an administrative investigation into the allegations that VBA
official Charmain Bogue violated laws and regulations governing conflicts of
interest in her dealings with her husband’s companies. The Securities and
Exchange Commission has also responded to Grassley’s earlier inquiry.
Full
text of Grassley’s letter follows. The letter and its attachments can be found
HERE.
July 20, 2021
VIA ELECTRONIC
TRANSMISSION
Denis
McDonough
Secretary
U.S.
Department of Veterans Affairs
Dear
Secretary McDonough:
I
write to you again today to express my disappointment in the U.S. Department of
Veterans Affairs’ (VA) failure to timely respond to my April 2, 2021 letter,
which raised several concerns about ongoing issues at your department. As
you’ll recall, these issues include, but are not limited to, potential
whistleblower reprisal, conflicts of interest among senior-level employees, and
potential leaking of market-sensitive information that may have affected retail
investors and financial markets.
[1]
Upon
receiving the very same documents that I provided to your office, the VA
Inspector General (VA OIG) has initiated an investigation into whether the VA
Executive Director of the Veterans Benefits Administrations Education Service,
Charmain Bogue, violated conflicts of ethics law and regulation by failing to
conflict herself off of dealings with her husband’s companies.
[2]
Further, VA OIG is investigating whether any potential legal opinion existed at
VA that recommended her recusal from doing business with her husband’s
companies. In my April 2, 2021 letter, I requested any legal opinions, should
any exist, surrounding Mrs. Bogue’s involvement with her spouses businesses.
[3]
Unfortunately your office has not provided the requested records or answered
whether Mrs. Bogue engaged in these alleged activities.
The
Securities and Exchange Commissions (SEC) also responded to my inquiry. In a
July 1, 2021 letter to my office, the SEC stated that it is carefully
considering the information provided to their office to ensure that there is
compliance with both statute and regulation.
[4]
As you’ll recall, my April 2, 2021 letter sought information as to what VA does
to protect market-sensitive information from improper disclosure by VA
personnel. Your office has yet to respond as to whether your employees
adequately adhere to applicable law and regulation. Certainly the Congress has
a sufficient interest in whether government employees are potentially monetizing
non-public information for their own financial benefit or that of their cronies.
It
is deeply troubling that VA is the sole agency to not respond to my inquiry,
especially given the seriousness of the allegations. My staff has attempted, on
several occasions, to work with your office to find a mutually agreeable
solution– including accepting answers to my questions on a rolling basis – to
no avail.
[5]
To
that end, I request that you respond to my initial inquiry, and answer the
additional follow-up questions based on information received from other
entities, no later than July 30, 2021.
1.
Has
VA sought guidance from the Office of Government Ethics with respect to
educating the VA workforce on the importance of safeguarding potentially
market-sensitive information? If not, why not?
2.
Does
VA have a policy regarding the necessity for employee’s to protect potentially
market-sensitive, nonpublic information from being released? If so, please
provide this policy. If not, why not?
I
trust that VA is not seeking to obstruct a congressional investigation in any
way by intentionally being unresponsive to my investigation. Contact my
Committee staff at (202) 224-5225 should you have any questions. Thank you for
your attention to this important mater.
Sincerely,
-30-
[1] See Letter from Charles E. Grassley, Ranking Member, S. Comm. on
the Judiciary, to Mr. Denis McDonough, Sec’y U.S. Dep’t of Veterans Affairs (Apr.
2, 2021),
https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/grassley_to_dept.ofveteransaffairsvbaethicsmarketinfoleaks.pdf.
[2] Attached as Exhibit A.
[3] See Letter from Charles E. Grassley, Ranking Member, S. Comm. on
the Judiciary, to Mr. Denis McDonough, Sec’y U.S. Dep’t of Veterans Affairs
(Apr. 2, 2021),
https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/grassley_to_dept.ofveteransaffairsvbaethicsmarketinfoleaks.pdf.
[4] Attached as Exhibit B.
[5] Email communications on file with
Committee.