A bipartisan group of lawmakers is urging a government watchdog to tackle what it describes as “persistent, systemic” problems with the handling of defense and intelligence whistleblowers.
Needless delays and “reprisal and misconduct” were cited within the inspector general’s office, the five lawmakers said in a letter sent last week to the Pentagon inspector general’s office.
The letter was obtained by McClatchy, which has in its reporting detailed allegations of mishandling by the inspector general’s office.
The lawmakers noted improvements since acting inspector general Glenn Fine took over in January.
“We believe, however, that there are ongoing challenges,” the lawmakers wrote. “We write to express our concerns regarding what appear to be persistent, systemic issues.”
The Pentagon inspector general’s office did not respond to requests for comment.
The lawmakers who signed the letter were: Sens. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa; Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.; and Reps. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah; and Elijah Cummings, D-Md.
The lawmakers cited several stories by McClatchy that outlined allegations of problems and delays by the Pentagon inspector general’s office.
The inspector general has, for example, agreed to reopen its investigation into a former Missouri National Guard contractor’s claims of wrongful termination. Michael Sandknop, a videographer who retired in 2009 as a master sergeant in the U.S. Army Reserve, claims in a lawsuit his supervisors knowingly made false statements about him “to discredit, damage and smear” him, and that he was wrongfully terminated.
Sandknop said he was not given the proper equipment to do his job and was publicly berated by his supervisors. When he sought assistance from the Missouri National Guard’s inspector general, he said, he was fired. An investigation “determined there was an unhealthy work environment in the Missouri National Guard PAO (Public Affairs Office),” an investigator wrote in a letter to Sandknop in June 2014. “Appropriate action will be taken to address these issues.”
A year later, however, after receiving no assistance, Sandknop last November filed suit. “I got fired, I got mad, and now I’m getting even,” Sandknop told the Kansas City Star.
Retaliation against whistleblowers is alive and well at the Defense Department.
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa
The inspector general’s office has reopened Sandknop’s case and has admitted that it made a mistake in first declining to investigate.
Nanci Gonder, spokeswoman for the Missouri Attorney General's office, reached by email, said, "We decline to comment on pending litigation."
The office has also started an inquiry into other alleged cases of reprisal.
In late 2014, McClatchy described daunting obstacles facing defense and intelligence whistleblowers, including delays, and a battle between investigators and managers at the Pentagon inspector general’s office over the handling of reprisal claims.
In May of 2015, the Government Accountability Office said it also found long delays when it analyzed about 124 military whistleblower reprisal cases overseen by the Pentagon inspector general’s office.
The lawmakers asked Fine’s office to explain what reforms have been undertaken since.
“Retaliation against whistleblowers is alive and well at the Defense Department," Grassley, chairman of the Judiciary committee, said by email. "Whistleblowers deserve fair treatment, free from reprisal, as the law provides. They should be encouraged to come forward, not be treated like skunks at a picnic.”
Marisa Taylor: 202-383-6164, @marisaataylor