VA Employee Alleges Contract Fraud, Whistleblower Retaliation

The future of one of the government's largest agencies is up in the air after White House doctor Ronny Jackson withdrew his name from consideration this week to be the next Veterans Affairs secretary.

Whoever leads the VA next will have to deal with deep problems at the agency, including controversy over how it handles reports of wrongdoing from its own employees.

The VA's Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection has taken on dozens of new cases of alleged whistleblower retaliation. But some employees who are flagging fraud, waste and abuse are skeptical.

Here & Now's Eric Westervelt (@Ericnpr) speaks with one of them: Dan Martin, chief of engineering services for the VA's Northern Indiana Health Care System. They are joined by Tom Devine, an attorney for Martin, and legal director at the nonprofit Government Accountability Project.

Here & Now reached out to several VA offices for a response to Martin's allegations. A spokeswoman at VA's Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection told us, "We are not at the point in the investigation to comment."

We've also confirmed that the Office of Special Counsel has reopened an investigation into some of Martin's allegations. And a spokesman at the VA's Northern Indiana Health Care System, where Martin works, said he could not comment on an ongoing investigation.