Top lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee sent a letter to U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Linda Fagan demanding the release of more documents they say were not provided amid an investigation into cultural issues in the military branch and the mishandling of sexual assault cases at the Coast Guard Academy.
O Letterdated Tuesday, says the commission requested relevant documents in July and December last year and that it was concerned about a “failure to produce sufficient documents”, with just 8,338 provided out of 1.8 million.
“Since sending these requests, the committee has heard from whistleblowers, who
courageously came forward to recount traumatizing experiences that revealed additional cultural deficiencies and alleged incompetence and misconduct by current and former leaders,” the lawmakers wrote in renewing the request for the documents.
The letter was signed by Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), chairman of the committee, and ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), along with Homeland Security Subcommittee Border and Foreign Affairs Chairman Glenn Grothman (R-Md.). -Wis.) and subcommittee ranking member Robert Garcia (D-Calif.).
Fagan is on Capitol Hill on Tuesday to testify before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which is also investigating the Coast Guard Academy over an internal report called Operation Fouled Anchor.
This report was completed in 2020 and details the mishandling of sexual assault and harassment cases at the school between 1990 and 2006.
The Coast Guard has faced increasing scrutiny over Operation Fouled Anchor, an issue that was amplified Monday after a former academy employee said she planned to resign.
The official, Shannon Norenberg, is the academy’s sexual assault response coordinator, but says she was left “literally sick” after claiming she was instructed to lie to sexual assault victims from the Operation Fouled Anchor report to cover up the cases from Congress.
The Coast Guard said in a statement to The Hill on Tuesday that it offered briefings to victims of the Operation Fouled Anchor report’s findings to publicize support services.
“At the time of initial preparations for these meetings, Congressional briefings on the Operation were being contemplated, which was reflected in the discussion points developed for the meetings,” the officials said. “However, the meetings occurred approximately 10 months after the talking points were developed and congressional notifications were not made.
“A former member present at each of these meetings reports that the issue of congressional notification was not addressed with any of the victims,” they wrote. “Further, the Coast Guard is not aware of anyone who told members of this team to lie about any aspect of Operation Fouled Anchor.”
The Coast Guard said it contacted the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General to investigate the allegations raised by Norenberg, and that the government watchdog accepted the request.
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