Via Washington Examiner:
Controversial language undermining a key whistleblower’s claim that dozens of veterans may have died awaiting treatment at a VA hospital was added to an inspector general’s report at the behest of top officials at the Department of Veterans Affairs, internal emails show.
The language noted that the Phoenix VA doctor who made the claim failed to deliver the names of 40 patients who may have died while they were on phony appointment lists at the hospital.
Sloan Gibson, deputy VA secretary, personally discussed including the line that the 40 deaths were not confirmed with acting Inspector General Richard Griffin, according to the emails released by the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.
Both Gibson and Rob Nabors, deputy White House chief of staff, wanted some mention of whether the allegations raised by Dr. Sam Foote were confirmed, according to the emails.
No such discussion was in the draft report sent to Gibson for comment. The final report included a sentence saying Foote “did not provide us with a list of 40 patient names.”