WASHINGTON, D.C.– Empower Oversight has filed a complaint against the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (VA OIG) for its failure to preserve critical investigative exhibits as required by federal law in a contentious conflicts of interest case that languished for nearly four years.
This failure has undermined ongoing efforts to ensure accountability and transparency regarding serious conflicts of interest regarding the VA and Veterans Education Success (VES). Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests exposed numerous communications involving senior VA officials, including then-Chief of Staff Tanya Bradsher. A VA OIG report vindicated many of the concerns raised by Empower Oversight, but was narrowly scoped and held no one involved accountable. VES, the advocacy organization implicated in the unethical dealings, continues to collaborate with the VA.
“The VA Inspector General’s actions raise serious concerns about its refusal to comply with federal statutes and regulations. Thanks to years of FOIA requests and litigation, many of the facts are documented in this case, yet the VA OIG failed to hold people accountable, to fully disclose information to Congress, and to preserve critical documents,” said Tristan Leavitt, President of Empower Oversight. “Its failure to preserve these records obstructs ongoing FOIA litigation by members of the public and prevents the truth from being uncovered.”
Empower Oversight filed its complaint with the Integrity Committee of the Council of Inspectors General for Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE). Empower Oversight urged CIGIE’s Integrity Committee to conduct a thorough investigation into the VA OIG’s failure to comply with federal laws and preserve investigative exhibits.
In 2021, Empower Oversight filed a FOIA with the VA and VA OIG seeking information as to why the VA ignored congressional requests for information on conflicts of interests involving a then-VA official responsible for GI Bill benefits, and her husband.
In September 2021, Empower Oversight issued a 19-page research paper entitled, “Did the Department of Veterans Affairs Enable Insider Trading?” exploring allegations about the leaking of non-public information about a market-moving enforcement announcement involving GI Bill benefits. However, the VA OIG failed to investigate those questions raised by Empower Oversight.
In November 2021, Empower Oversight released a copy of the VA’s draft reply, obtained through FOIA, to Senator Chuck Grassley’s April 2021 letter asking about these issues. The FOIA copy showed that the agency had gathered the answers to the Senators questions, but it withheld those answers from the Senate, never transmitted the letter, and redacted those answers on the copy provided through FOIA.
In January 2022, Empower Oversight appealed the VA’s redactions of those answers and other information that did not appear to be exempt from disclosure under FOIA.
In September 2022, Empower Oversight filed an amended complaint (and exhibits) against the VA after the agency failed to conduct adequate searches in response to a FOIA request subject to a lawsuit filed in May 2022.
Throughout 2023, Empower Oversight made numerous attempts to compel the VA to comply with its FOIA requests.
In November 2023, Empower Oversight and Whistleblowers of America renewed questions to the VA, the VA OIG, and VES. The questions revolved around the conflicts of interest with the VA and VES and the service provider’s lack of cooperation with the VA OIG after whistleblower allegations arose about the conduct of both entities.
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