The VA’s DEI office was rampant with sexual misconduct, harassment, and corruption, according to a recent report. Is this truly what our taxes are going to, in the name of diversity, equity, and inclusion?

From The Daily Wire. The Department of Veterans Affairs office dedicated to rooting out racism and harassment is itself a “hostile, toxic work environment with a permissive culture of rampant gossiping and innuendo,” where multiple layers of top officials participated in and covered up sexual harassment, an internal agency review concluded.

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At one point, a senior manager fired a mid-level manager because both men wanted to sexually harass the same employee. When a complaint was filed, a political appointee sat on it, apparently partly for racial reasons.

The 125-page report paints a shocking portrait of the 400-person diversity office, in which employees spent much of their time filing complaints against each other instead of serving veterans. Employees engaged in “self-aggrandizing,” petty turf wars, and planned wasteful events, including one junket in which nine people travelled to dispense “diversity” training that was supposed to have been done by one person.

Deputy Assistant Secretary Harvey Johnson, the leader of the Office of Resolution Management, Diversity & Inclusion (ORMDI), retired when confronted with evidence of his department’s behavior, as well as allegations that he had swept misconduct “under the rug.”

Archie Davis, the ORMDI Chief of Staff, has been moved to a different office pending discipline after the Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection (OAWP) concluded that he “engaged in misconduct of a sexual nature with a subordinate employee, including while he was in her direct chain of command,” “sexted’ with a different subordinate employee,” covered up allegations against colleague, and a slew of other infractions.

The findings come as the VA has made some of the most bizarre and inflammatory “diversity” moves in the Biden administration — including an attempted ban on the iconic photo that celebrated victory over Japan in World War II, and a new policy that could tamper with medical assessments to deny benefits to white suicidal veterans in the name of racial equity. …

A female employee provided OAWP with messages showing that after meeting chief of staff Davis for the first time in early 2023, he began sending her flirtatious texts and copying her on emails in which he bullied subordinates, seemingly to boast of his power and to show what could be in store for her if she did not cooperate. …

The victim said that Davis “would always try to persuade me with money,” such as free trips to D.C., and told her “once you get on his bad side, you will feel his wrath.” …

Six complaints resulted in little reform, with the victim eventually reaching out directly to VA Secretary Denis McDonough, who did not respond. …

Davis’ misconduct “was so wide-ranging, pervasive, and widely known” that ORMDI Deputy Assistant Secretary Johnson “either knew or should have” known about it, yet he continued to give Davis “outstanding” performance reviews, OAWP said. …

Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ) said that VA officials explained a delay in convening an investigation in part because they thought someone could only be investigated by a person of the same race.

Secretary McDonough acknowledged receiving an email from a whistleblower about the scandal, but said he could not recall his response clearly. The employees remained on the job even after House VA Committee Chair Rep. Mike Bost (R-IL) wrote to him about it because he did not read the chairman’s letter, despite congressional correspondence being part of his daily briefing.

“I don’t read the letters tab every day. And I’ve just ignored it,” McDonough said. “That is one of the things that really bothers me about it, and I saw no other way to address it than to just come clean.”

Gina Grosso, the Assistant Secretary for HRA/OSP, failed to take prompt action, explaining to OAWP that “there were so many complaints at once, and it took time to figure out who was the grieved, and it’s several things on my plate — on the plate. I don’t think I have any other great explanation, honestly.”

Grosso, a political appointee of Joe Biden, announced her resignation the day after Congress raised the issue. …

In a February 14 congressional hearing, Secretary McDonough said although a whistleblower contacted him about the issue, he didn’t remember it, and it didn’t get his attention when Bost wrote to him about it, because “I’ve just ignored” letters from Congress.

“The person who failed here is me,” McDonough told the committee. “This behavior suggests a real culture issue in ORMDI.”

The report concluded that “given the systemic deficiencies and failures documented in this report, VA must take immediate action to restore VA employees’ trust in ORMDI.” …

Our veterans deserve more than the chaos of the ORMDI. Share your prayers below for the VA and for every American veteran.

(Excerpt from The Daily Wire. Photo Credit: U.S. Secretary of Defense – 221111-D-PM193-1432, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons)