Johnson’s Own Staff Let Whistleblower Tips Die In “The Equivalent Of A Congressional Black Hole”
This week, the VA Office of Inspector General released a plan following an investigation into the problems that have plagued the Tomah VA. After weeks of excuses and staunch refusal to accept any responsibility for letting whistleblower complaints brought to his office die in “the equivalent of a Congressional black hole,” Ron Johnson decided to show a sudden interest in the situation and called the plan “too little too late,” while saying that “people need to be fully held accountable.”
We agree. How about we start with you Senator Johnson?
After weeks spent intentionally misleading his constituents and coming up with excuse after excuse to try and explain away his failures, Ron Johnson is the one who needs to be “fully held accountable” – and his sudden interest in the situation won’t fool anyone. Here’s a quick recap of his failures on Tomah:
- A shocking report from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel was released that detailed how Johnson let whistleblower complaints brought to his office die in “the equivalent of a Congressional black hole.”
- Before the report surfaced, Johnson’s office intentionally misled constituents and repeatedly claimed that the complaints had been referred to an oversight committee, but the complaints never reached those in charge of the committee, instead they were merely passed off to other members of Johnson’s own staff.
- After local press slammed Johnson’s inaction, he attempted to place the blame on his colleague Tammy Baldwin, who has contacted the Tomah VA, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and the VA Office of the Inspector General to get answers. Baldwin has also held her staff accountable by demoting a staffer and docking pay from another.
- Johnson then tried to save face during a radio interview by saying that his office failed to respond to the whistleblower complaints because his staff was busy “doing job interviews and stuff.”
- While Johnson has repeatedly refused to accept responsibility for failing Wisconsin veterans, he was prepared to purge his Washington staff in 2012 because they weren’t focused enough on political messaging.
“Ron Johnson clearly thinks he can pull a fast one on Wisconsinites with his sudden interest in accountability at the Tomah VA, but his attention to the situation is what’s really ‘too little, too late.’ After weeks and weeks of excuses, his call for accountability is questionable at best,” said Sadie Weiner, DSCC National Press Secretary. “If Johnson is really interested in holding people ‘fully accountable,’ he would step up and accept responsibility for his failures instead of continuing to put politics before the people he was elected to serve.”
