The Department of Veterans Affairs said Friday two high-ranking
officials were finally demoted in response to a federal probe that found
they manipulated the agency's personnel system for their own gain, but a
key lawmaker is asking why they weren't prosecuted.
Federal prosecutors announced on Christmas Eve that
they would not pursue charges in the case, but the Justice Department
has not responded to Rep. Jeff Miller's inquiry into why no charges will
be filed.
On Friday, the Department of Veterans Affairs said in
a statement that it took "final action" to "demote" two Veterans
Benefits Administration (VBA) Senior Executives to General Schedule
positions.
Diana Rubens, director of VBA’s Philadelphia regional
office, and Kimberly Graves, director of VBA’s St. Paul regional
office, have been assigned to assistant director positions at other VBA
regional offices, the VA said.
"These actions were originally initiated in October
2015 but had to be redone to correct an administrative error," the
statement said.
Miller, R-Fla., and chairman of the House Committee
on Veterans’ Affairs, is pressing U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch
for answers surrounding Graves and Rubens, who got $300,000 in taxpayer
money for her home when it did not sell.
In a Dec. 22 letter penned to Lynch, Miller wrote, "A
Sept. 28, 2015, VA Office of Inspector General report recommended that
the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Columbia, pursue criminal
charges against two VA executives it found to have abused their
positions in order to take jobs with less responsibility, while keeping
higher salaries."
"The report detailed how the VA executives pressured
subordinates to accept position transfers only to volunteer for the
vacated jobs while keeping their original salaries and having the VA pay
them more than $400,000 in taxpayer relocation benefits," he wrote.
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