The Inspector General of the Department of Veterans Affairs released a report Thursday that alleges VA Secretary Robert Wilkie orchestrated a campaign to disparage and discredit a female Navy veteran who claimed she was sexually assaulted at a VA facility in 2019.

According to the report, Texas Congressman Dan Crenshaw, a former Navy SEAL who lost an eye during service, forwarded false information to Wilkie about the woman, with whom Crenshaw had served in the Navy, in furtherance of the effort to discredit the accuser.

Crenshaw refused a request from the VA IG for an interview in the probe, and he barred his staff from participating in the investigation.  Crenshaw reportedly approached Wilkie with information about the complaintant at a political fundraiser in December 2019.

Wilkie then circulated an email to staff relating that he had had a conversation with Crenshaw about the complaintant:  “Ask me in the morning what Congressman Crenshaw said about the Takano staffer whose glamor shot was in the New York Times.”  Wilkie sent the email at 7:21 p.m., four minutes after security logs show him leaving the fundraiser.

In two separate media interviews, Crenshaw denied having ever discussed the woman or the complaint with Wilkie.  At least three VA staffers testified that Wilkie told them at he got information about the complaintant from Crenshaw.

“Scrutinizing the veteran’s background is contrary to V.A.’s stated goal to serve veterans with respect,” V.A. Inspector General Michael Missal said in a statement reported by Newsweek. “Every V.A. employee should commit to making V.A. facilities safe and welcoming places where such complaints are met with the highest standards of professionalism and responsiveness.”