Outraged’ Obama KNEW About VA Backlogs in 2008

May 19, 2014 By TPNN Staff

On Sunday, Obama Chief of Staff Denis McDonough on CBS’s Face the Nation told Major Garrett that Obama was “madder than hell,” about the scandal at the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA).

But according to briefing materials obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by the Washington Times, Obama knew about the deadly backlog as far back as 2008, following the presidential election which elected Obama to his first term.

“This is not only a data integrity issue in which [Veterans Health Administration] reports unreliable performance data; it affects quality of care by delaying —and potentially denying — deserving veterans timely care,” the officals wrote, according to the Washington Times  report. 

This information follows VA Secretary Eric Shinseki telling the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee last Thursday that he was also “mad as hell.” Shinseki testified that he did not know if anyone had been fired over the scandal, nor would he agree that falsifying patient records was a fireable offense at the government agency.

Reports indicate that the falsification of records was so rampant that at the VA facility in Phoenix, and possibly other locations, patient waiting records were intentionally falsified in order for employees at the agency to receive bonuses for lowering costs.