A press release from Congressman Joe Walsh:

House Chairman Questions Duckworth’s Record of Taxpayer Waste

Today, Congressman Joe Walsh was joined by Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, Jeff Miller (R-FL) and committee member Tim Huelskamp (R-KS) to discuss troubling findings regarding Tammy Duckworth’s tenure at the federal Veterans Affairs and Illinois Dept. of Veterans Affairs (DVA).

The three addressed excessive conference spending at the national VA, an Auditor General’s report citing 12 violations of state law by Ms. Duckworth at the Illinois DVA, and a current lawsuit Duckworth is facing from two whistleblowers from within the Illinois DVA.

Congressman Huelskamp, highlighting an ongoing investigation into VA conference spending, described the VA’s annual spending on conferences that tops $100 million as “outrageous”. Duckworth was key in planning a $2.5 million Hawaiian boondoggle at the VA.

Discussing the possibility of hearings on this issue after the elections, Congressman Miller was asked if he would subpoena Tammy Duckworth. Miller indicated that under certain circumstances “she would be.”

Congressman Walsh focused on the ongoing whistleblower lawsuit, where Duckworth wrongfully terminated an employee and told the other “keep your mouth shut” and she “would keep her job.” He also discussed a recently revealed email that showed Duckworth tried to cover her tracks in wrongfully terminating the whistleblower by calling on her staff to provide reasons to justify the wrongful termination.

Walsh concluded with “With just 5 days to go until voters go to the polls; on behalf of the residents of the 8th district, I demand that Ms. Duckworth explain her actions. Tell us why you fired and threatened two whistleblowers. Tell us why you abused your power. Tell us why you tried to cover it up. Tell us why you lied to us when you denied the incident even took place. Ms. Duckworth the voters deserve to know why.”