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Members of the security detail tasked with protecting senior leaders at the Department of Veterans Affairs followed questionable procedures that put officials' safety at risk, abused rules governing overtime pay, and acted as chauffeur for former Secretary David Shulkin’s wife, according to a new investigation. The alleged failures, documented by VA Inspector General Michael Missal in a report released Thursday, detail missteps that went on for years and came to a head under Shulkin. The investigation was commissioned after “various complaints” alleged broadly that VA’s protection division was being grossly mismanaged, the report says. (Mettler and Rein, 1/17)

The report concluded Shulkin "violated ethical regulations by permitting his VA employee driver to use a personal vehicle and personal time to provide transportation services to the Secretary's wife." The inspector general cleared Shulkin of allegations he had abused his authority by having agents protect him when not on government business, because he relied on advice from department staffers and "no one raised any concern that his use was inappropriate." (Wallace, 1/17)

Using government vehicles for unofficial purposes was prohibited in this case, and the personal transportation services would have qualified as a gift, the inspector general concluded. Federal ethics rules bar employees from accepting gifts from subordinate staff. “Secretary Shulkin was aware that these services, which benefited him at least indirectly, were being offered to his wife,” the inspector general’s report said. “Accordingly, he had an ethical obligation to decline the gift.” (Slack, 1/17)