Dear
Friend:
Late
Wednesday
afternoon,
the
Department
of
Veterans
Affairs
Office
of
Inspector
General
(VA
OIG)
released
its
investigative
report
detailing
the
massive
cost
overruns
and
delays
in
the
Aurora
VA
hospital’s
construction.
This
report
confirms
what
we’ve
known
all
along:
Senior
VA
officials
intentionally
misled
Congress,
repeatedly
lying
under
oath
in
congressional
hearings,
on
the
Aurora
VA
hospital’s
rising
costs
and construction delays.
Earlier
this
year,
U.S.
Representative
Kathleen
Rice
(D-NY)
and
I
called
upon
the
VA
Office
of
Accountability
Review
and
the
VA
OIG
to
investigate
whether
criminal referrals
are
appropriate
in
regard
to the
Aurora
VA
hospital
construction
project
and
that
if
they
were
not
criminal
referrals,
to
the
Department
of
Justice,
to
explain
specifically
why
not.
No
doubt,
I’m
deeply
disappointed
that
the
VA
OIG
has
yet
to
act
upon
that
request.
After
reviewing
the
report,
I
was
particularly
struck
by
the
VA
OIG’s
conclusions
concerning
the
congressional
testimony
of
former
VA
executive
Glenn
Haggstrom.
After
recounting
numerous
internal
warnings
Haggstrom
received
about
the
cost-escalation
in
Aurora,
as
well
as
Haggstrom’s
testimony
before
Congress
in
May
2013
and
April
2014,
VAOIG
generously
concluded
Haggstrom
“did
not
share
[the]
information
with
Congress.”
A
less
generous
assessment
is
that
Haggstrom
intentionally
misled
Congress
he lied.
As
the
report
details,
Haggstrom
was
a
party
to
extensive
internal
communications
concerning
the
likely
need
for
significant
additional
funding
for
the
project.
I
believe
the
Department
and
its
various
congressional
witnesses
knowingly
painted
an
inaccurate
picture
of
the
Aurora
project
in
its testimony
before
Congress
in
an
effort
to
avoid
criticism,
embarrassment,
and responsibility,
and ultimately,
accountability.
I
immediately
called
for
the
VA
OIG
to
review
its
newly-released
report
to
address
whether
criminal
referrals
to
the
Department
of
Justice
for
any
VA
officials
are
appropriate.
And
if
no
criminal
referrals
are
appropriate,
I
asked
the
VA
OIG
to
clearly
explain
why.
Intentionally
misleading
Congress, by
repeatedly
perjuring
themselves
in
giving
false
testimony
under
oath, is
a
serious
offense,
especially
when
over
$1.6
billion
in
taxpayer
funds
are
now
committed
on
a
project
originally
estimated
to
cost
around
$600
million.
I
will
continue
fighting
to
ensure
that
those
responsible
for
this
debacle
and
its
attempted
cover
up
are
held
accountable.
Sincerely,
Mike
Coffman
U.S.
Representative |