VA's accountability chief reportedly lost a past job over lack of accountability
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
The VA's deputy inspector general, Richard J. Griffin, reportedly left a position at the State Department over negligence which led to the death of 14 Iraqi civilians. As NBC News reported at the time, Griffin resigned his State position after a review "found serious lapses" in his oversight of the Blackwater guards who were convicted earlier this month of massacring the 14 civilians.
Despite Griffin's lack of accountability measures at the State Department — and the tragic consequences which followed — his current position is focused on conducting "independent oversight reviews" to, among other goals, "prevent and detect criminal activity."
As the Washington Examiner notes, Griffin's office "has been accused of protecting the agency from criticism rather than asking hard questions" while the VA scandal stretches into its second year.
Article continues belowThe Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.
