Coast Guard ‘obstructs’ Senate sexual assault investigation

The Coast Guard’s failure to provide Congress with adequate information about the Coast Guard’s handling of sexual violence cases indicates a “persistent culture of cover up,” lawmakers said Tuesday during a highly anticipated congressional hearing on the Coast Guard’s investigation into sexual misconduct at the Coast Guard Academy.

Last year, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs requested all records related to Operation Fouled Anchor, the Coast Guard’s internal investigation into sexual assault cases at the Coast Guard Academy. The documents submitted to Congress were heavily redacted and contained a large number of duplicates.

“We were told that there “It’s 25,000 to 30,000 pages of documents. We’ve received about 17,000,” said Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wis.).

“I spoke to an admiral yesterday. I have suggested that the only way to get through this hearing with integrity is to bring the remaining from these documents unedited. We received about 1,000 pages, albeit in edited form. The is what we get. The is not complete transparency.”

Operation Fouled Anchor, which investigated sexual assault cases between 1990 and 2006, ended in 2020, but the service did not release operational information to Congress until 2023.

Shannon Norenberg, who served as sexual assault response coordinator at the Coast Guard Academy for the past 11 years, resigned last week ahead of Tuesday’s hearing, saying the service had used her as part of a cover up Operation Fouled Anchor.

Norenberg said the National Guard did not provide victims with an official form proving they reported the incident while still on duty. The form would allow victims to receive available benefits and disability payments from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

In addition, the document containing the talking points that she was supposed to refer to during an “apology tour” four years ago said that the service had informed Congress about the investigation, even though Congress only learned of it last year.

In the meantime, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability is conducting its own Investigation into the Guard’s handling of sexual assault cases. The committee sent a letter to Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Linda Fagan on Tuesday, expressing concern about the service’s inability to provide investigative documents in a timely manner.

“We are concerned about the Coast Guard’s decision to produce only 8,338 of the 1.8 million potentially relevant pages it has identified since the investigation began nearly a year ago. Even more concerning is that on May 8, 2024, the USCG informed the committee that it could not provide a briefing on its upcoming production plan nor specific information on its plans to produce additional documents in response to the committee’s pending requests,” the letter said.

Admiral Fagan said she is working with the committee “in good faith” and is trying to provide congressional investigators with the requested documents.

“We started this process last summer, added People and resources to ensure, that could get into a regular customer Creation of documents. “This is an unprecedented undertaking for the organization,” Fagan said.

She said she was aware of Norenberg’s allegations and that her allegations were part of the Homeland Security Office of Inspector General’s investigation into the cover up.

“I have not read your statementI “I am aware of the reporting on her concerns. Shannon was an incredible employee. She made an incredible difference as a sexual assault counselor at the Coast Guard Academy. We are a smaller organization with her departure, but the allegations she made will be part of the (inspector general’s investigation),” Fagan said.

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