The Department of Veterans Affairs has put off a probe into a whistleblower’s claim that the department failed to protect veterans’ private information.
Two government watchdog groups want senators to carefully check out President Biden’s choice for the number two job at the Department of Veterans Affairs. She was in charge of a system that put veterans’ personal information at risk, which led one federal agency to say there was a “substantial likelihood of wrongdoing.”
Biden’s choice for deputy secretary is Tanya Bradsher, the chief of staff for VA Secretary Denis McDonough. She was in charge of the Integrated Enterprise Workflow Solution, also called the VIEWS system, at the VA.
In August, the Office of Special Counsel asked the department to finish its VIEWS review within 60 days. After almost a year, the VA still doesn’t know what to do.
In a letter sent late Friday, Tristan Leavitt, president of Empower Oversight, and Jacqueline Garrick, founder of Whistleblowers of America, say that “under Secretary McDonough and Tanya Bradsher’s leadership, the VA has asked for extensions every 60 days since then, repeatedly putting off its obligations to investigate and report to OSC on these serious whistleblower disclosures.”
Related Posts
Fox News Digital got the letter sent to Senate Veterans Affairs Chair Jon Tester, D-Mont., and senior member Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan.
“Its most recent request for a delay, which was made on June 1, would mean that a response to the whistleblower disclosures wouldn’t come until August 1,” the letter says. “However, in the ten months since the VA was told about the problems, nothing has changed. Even as recently as this month, June 2023, more insiders revealed that veterans’, whistleblowers’, and your voters’ private information is still widely, insecurely, and improperly available in VIEWS, making it vulnerable to compromise.
Sen. Charles Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, has already asked for information about Bradsher. Grassley, who is not on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, slowed down the approval of another Biden VA candidate earlier this year.
“The office of Chief of Staff Tanya Bradsher oversees the VIEWS system. “A VA certified fraud examiner and certified auditing professional told Ms. Bradsher’s office last year that personally identifiable information (PII), protected health information (PHI), and whistleblower information was widely available across VA to the thousands of VA employees with access to VIEWS, regardless of their need to know,” Grassley says in a June 2 letter to McDonough.
The letter was sent to Senate Veterans Affairs Chair Jon Tester, D-Mont., and senior member Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., and was sent to Fox News Digital.
“Its most recent request for a delay, which was made on June 1, would mean that a response to the whistleblower disclosures wouldn’t come until August 1,” says the letter. “However, nothing has changed in the ten months since the VA was told about the problems. Even as recently as June 2023, more sources said that veterans’, spies’, and your voters’ private information is still widely, insecurely, and improperly available in VIEWS, making it easy to hack.
Iowa Republican Sen. Charles Grassley has already asked for information about Bradsher. This year, Grassley, who is not on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, slowed down the process of approving another Biden VA choice.
“The Chief of Staff Tanya Bradsher’s office oversees the VIEWS system.”Last year, a VA-certified fraud examiner and certified auditing professional told Ms. Bradsher’s office that personally identifiable information (PII), protected health information (PHI). Whistleblower information was widely available across VA to the thousands of VA employees with access to VIEWS, no matter what their need to know,” Grassley says in a June 2 letter to McDonough.
Bradsher served in the Army for 20 years and was in charge of public relations for the White House National Security Counsel, the Defense Department, and the Department of Homeland Security.
The two watchdog groups say that no one asked her about the VIEWS system at her nomination meeting on May 31 in front of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. She did, however, talk about electronic health data.
Bradsher said in her opening statement at her confirmation meeting, “I will make sure that we keep building an electronic health record system that makes care for Veterans better, and that we don’t use it until it’s fully ready.”
Later, during the meeting, she said, “The deputy secretary is ultimately in charge of the electronic health record program, and if I’m confirmed, that job will be all mine.”
In their statement, the two watchdog groups say, “Given this responsibility, it is important to look at the nominee’s record of keeping electronic records secret.”
Fox News Digital asked the Department of Veterans Affairs about this story, but the department did not answer.
In their letter, the watchdog groups say that Peter C. Rizzo, a certified fraud examiner, and former VA program manager, signed a statement about problems with the VIEWS system and “unconscionable mishandling” of the data in the system two days before the Senate confirmation hearing.
“In her new job as Chief of Staff for the VA, Ms. Bradsher is in charge of VIEWS. “Ms. Bradsher is also aware of VIEWS’ flaws and how VA employees continue to abuse it,” Rizzo says in the statement. “I know this because I told Ms. Bradsher’s Deputy Chief of Staff, Maureen Elias, about these problems on July 13, 2022, by video chat and email. That day, Ms. Elias told me she would immediately tell Ms. Bradsheray about my worries about VIEWS.
“Thousands of authorized VIEWS users can access the system without ever having to log in again after their first VIEWS log-in,” says. He also says, “VA leadership has known for a long time that VIEWS has security flaws, but no one, including Ms. Bradsher, has shown the courage and will to make the necessary changes.”
The OSC, an independent body that looks into whistleblower complaints and disclosures, told Rizzo about the report on August 2, 2022.
In its message to Rizzo, the OSC says, “Disclosures sent to the agency for investigation and a report must include enough information for OSC to decide whether there is a substantial likelihood of wrongdoing.” “After reviewing the information sent, we asked the Secretary to look into these claims and report back to OSC… We gave the Secretary 60 days to investigate what happened and send a report to the OSC. But you should know that these reviews usually take longer, and agencies often ask for and get extra time to finish them.
In their message on Friday, the watchdogs didn’t just talk about views. The letter also includes documents that the groups got through the Freedom of Information Act. The chief of staff was on many emails about Grassley’s worries about conflicts of interest and threats against whistleblowers in the VA.
The letter says, “We are disappointed that the committee has not shown any interest so far in thoroughly checking out the nominee’s record, despite the serious issues raised by these whistleblowers under her watch.” “It is the committee’s job to look closely at nominees for senior leadership positions like this one and to tell other Senators about facts that are important for them to know so they can vote on their own and take part in the constitutional advice and consent function.”
