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Some advocacy groups for military veterans called for the "immediate removal" of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie on Friday after a report from the Office of Inspector General (OIG) claimed Wilkie had attempted to discredit a woman who alleged she had been sexually assaulted a Veterans Administration medical facility.
According to the OIG report, congressional aide Andrea Goldstein told Virginia police that a contractor at the VA Medical Center in Washington, D.C. "bumped his entire body against mine and told me I looked like I needed a smile and a good time." No criminal charges were brought to bear against the contractor. During the subsequent inquiry into the incident by the OIG, investigators discovered that Wilkie brought Goldstein's credibility into question and "purported that she had made prior similar complaints."
Based on the OIG report, the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) said it wanted Wilkie removed from his position. In a Friday statement, the executive of DAV's Washington headquarters Randy Reese wrote that the organization "no longer has confidence that Secretary Wilkie can effectively lead the department and calls for his immediate removal."
"Based on the troubling findings and conclusions of the report, it is clear that from the onset, the Secretary's and other senior officials' handling of this case was at serious odds with the department's no-tolerance policy toward sexual harassment," the statement said. "The Secretary's failure to meet this standard or hold others accountable undermines decades of work that advocates—including many VA staff—have done to bring an end to sexual harassment and assault throughout the department."
Reese said Wilkie's actions as described by the OIG report "breached the trust of those whom he is beholden to honor and serve."
AMVETS National Commander Jan Brown wrote in a Friday tweet that "AMVETS supports DAV's call to remove VA Secretary Wilkie."
While some witnesses told OIG investigators that Wilkie had researched Goldstein to gain information, the report said those reports could not be substantiated due to "insufficient evidence." In a Thursday statement, Wilkie denied he had attempted to have Goldstein investigated.
"After nearly a year of investigation, interviews with 65 people and analysis of nearly 1.5 million documents, VA's inspector general cannot substantiate that I sought to investigate or asked others to investigate the Veteran," Wilkie told the Washington Post. "That's because these allegations are false."
"Secretary Wilkie has led VA to achieve landmark improvements in Veteran's trust, quality of care and employee satisfaction," Department of Veterans Affairs Press Secretary Christina Noel said in a statement emailed to Newsweek on Saturday. "He will continue to lead the department, including its historic response to the COVID-19 pandemic."
There are 170 VA medical facilities in the U.S. with more than 9 million veterans enrolled in the VA health program. In August 2019, the VA released research that said 1 in 4 women veterans experienced some form of harassment when visiting VA facilities.
"This behavior does not honor or value the traditions of military service and will not to be tolerated at VA," read an article on the VA website.
Updated 12/14/2020 11:32 p.m. EST: This story has been updated with a statement from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
