The recent downfall of a top Navy top SEAL is getting scrutiny from Capitol Hill as lawmakers question whether the admiral was treated unfairly and lost his career in a politically charged and poorly managed investigation.
The investigation of Navy Rear Adm. Brian Losey has become a flashpoint for the broader criticisms of the Defense Department Inspector General, which is an independent agency tasked with investigating allegations of internal misconduct.
The former head of the Navy's SEAL Team 6, Losey's career was derailed by allegations that he was obsessed with loyalty and retaliated against subordinates who complained anonymously to the IG about his travel expenses and the "toxic" work environment he cultivated.
"This was a tragic outcome that has failed to do justice to one of America's top warriors," said Rep. Ron Desantis, R-Fla., a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
"The whole ordeal raises questions about how the whistleblower process functions," Destantis said.
The oversight committee held a hearing Wednesday about Losey's case and the criticisms of the IG's office.
Losey was head of Special Operations Command Africa in 2011 when he was accused of giving poor reviews and transferring out key staffers who filed anonymous complaints with the IG's office.
But Losey's advocates say he did nothing wrong.
"In realty he was simply holding a subordinate accountable for his actions," said Ryan Zinke, a former Navy SEAL who is a congressman from Montana.
IG criticism
Losey's case highlights a broader controversy over the role of the IG and how it handles its unique legal authority for investigating misconduct.
For the past several years, the Pentagon's top watchdog has sought to crack down on whistleblower reprisals, an effort to discourage commanders from punishing underlings for speaking up about government waste, misconduct and poor leadership.
For example, in May, the IG for the first time substantiated a claim of reprisal from a sexual assault victim.
But some lawmakers on Capitol Hill are worried that the Defense Department's Inspector General's Office has become too aggressive and may be wrongfully punishing good leaders.
The Pentagon IG's handling of whistleblower reprisal investigations was criticized in a recent report from the Government Accountability Office, which said the IG was taking too long to complete the probes and was using a separate internal case management system that makes it harder for lawmakers to oversee the military reprisal investigations.
In defense of the IG's office, lawmakers heard from Glenn Fine, the principal deputy inspector general.
"Whistleblowers are important to exposing waste, fraud and abuse in government programs and they are instrumental in saving taxpayer money and improving the efficiency of government operations," Fine said.
"They need to be protected from reprisals for their protected disclosures. Without such protections, individuals who can help save taxpayer money -- and possibly even help saves lives -- will not report crucial information," Fine said.
The IG is facing rare criticism from the Project on Government Oversight, or POGO, a group that was founded by whistleblowers and often champions the investigations of other government IGs.
Employees fear reprisal
Mandy Smithberger, the head of POGO's military reform project, testified Wednesday and pointed to surveys given to all federal government employees that reveal that one in four DoD IG Office employees are themselves reluctant to report misconduct for fear of reprisals.
And about half of the IG office's employees do not believe their leadership maintains high standards of honesty and integrity.
"This kind of survey data raises serious concerns," Smithberger said.
Rep. Stephen Lynch, a D-Mass., said he had no strong feelings about Losey's case, but he said the broader actions of the IG's office were troubling.
"We've got cases where there appears to be deliberate mishandling of documentation," Lynch said.
There are reports of the IG's office "backfilling evidence in files after a case is closed, which sounds like some of the things that we have prosecuted people for and people are doing jail time for," Lynch said.
Fine acknowledged that the IG's office has struggled in recent years with a growing caseload, yet a budget that remains flat. And he said investigating complaints of whistleblower reprisal is hard and criticism is part of the job.
"We are going to get critics from both sides -- you're too hard; you're too soft; you're doing a whitewash; you're doing a witch hunt. You're a junkyard dog or you're a lap dog. We get that often in the same case. We can't let that deter us," Fine told lawmakers.
"Our job is to take the facts wherever they lead," he said.
Andrew Tilghman is the executive editor for Military Times. He is a former Military Times Pentagon reporter and served as a Middle East correspondent for the Stars and Stripes. Before covering the military, he worked as a reporter for the Houston Chronicle in Texas, the Albany Times Union in New York and The Associated Press in Milwaukee.
