Apologizes to whistleblowers
At a Congressional hearing on July 8, 2014, the number two official at the VA, James Tuchschmidt, says he is sorry that VA employees who reported problems were subject to retaliation. After listening to four VA employees testify for nearly three hours about the VA’s actions to limit criticism and strike back against whistleblowers, he says:
I apologize to everyone whose voice has been stifled. That’s not what I stand for. I’m very disillusioned and sickened by all of this.
VA apologizes for ‘confusion’
The Department of Veterans Affairs apologizes for causing “confusion” in reporting the number of deaths caused by delayed care at their facilities, and says “there was no intent to mislead anyone.” The VA says the numbers reported:
intertwined in written and oral statements leading to confusion. … VA inadvertently caused confusion in its communication on this complex set of reviews that were ongoing at the time. For that, we apologize.