{"id":29567,"date":"2018-10-09T20:13:57","date_gmt":"2018-10-09T20:13:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/10\/09\/va-wont-turn-over-documents-related-to-outside-businessmens-influence-on-department-policy\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T10:24:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T10:24:10","slug":"va-wont-turn-over-documents-related-to-outside-businessmens-influence-on-department-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/congress\/2018\/10\/09\/va-wont-turn-over-documents-related-to-outside-businessmens-influence-on-department-policy\/","title":{"rendered":"VA won\u2019t turn over documents related to outside businessmen\u2019s influence on department policy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 Veterans Affairs officials are declining to give members of Congress documents related to accusations that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2018\/08\/08\/democrats-demand-white-house-reveal-details-of-outside-businessmens-influence-on-va-policy\/\" target=_blank>outside businessmen are unduly influencing department policy<\/a>, citing legal ongoing disputes over the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In response, the <a href=\"http:\/\/caucus.militarytimes.com\/speaker\/tim-walz\/\" target=_blank>ranking member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee<\/a> blasted the move as \u201can attempt to stonewall not only a member of Congress, but the American public.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At issue are concerns raised by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/ike-perlmutter-bruce-moskowitz-marc-sherman-shadow-rulers-of-the-va\" target=_blank>a ProPublica report<\/a> this summer that identified three businessmen \u2014 Marvel Entertainment CEO Ike Perlmutter, primary care specialist Dr. Bruce Moskowitz, and attorney Marc Sherman \u2014 as key architects of a host of veterans policy decisions by Trump\u2019s administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">None of the men hold official government positions, but all three are confidants of Trump and members of his exclusive Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Documents released by the news organization show frequent contact between the men and top VA officials last year, including discussions on policy matters and personal favors.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/veterans\/2018\/08\/10\/concerns-build-over-trumps-unofficial-advisors-on-veterans-policy\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"176\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_17040578086966.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Concerns build over Trump\u2019s unofficial advisers on veterans policy<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Democrats are furious over reports that members of Trump&#039;s Florida resort may be setting VA policy in secret.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last month, at a Senate Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee hearing, VA Secretary Robert Wilkie told lawmakers he has only met with the men once, as a courtesy during a trip to Florida, and that they have no role in crafting department policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But after House Democrats in August requested correspondence between the men and VA officials, Wilkie refused, citing \u201congoing litigation alleging violations of the Federal Advisory Committee Act\u201d making them \u201cnot appropriate for release at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The claim appears to be connected to a lawsuit filed by the left-leaning advocacy group VoteVets, to block the men from contact with VA leadership on official matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Minnesota Rep. Tim Walz, the top ranking Democrat on the veterans\u2019 panel, called Wilkie\u2019s excuse for not releasing the documents \u201cunacceptable\u201d and without legal merit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe have received nothing from VA except excuses,\u201d he said in a statement. \u201cThe reports of corruption and cronyism are serious and we cannot allow VA to sweep this under the rug. This issue will remain a top concern of the committee until all our questions have been answered.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Walz is demanding the documents be turned over to the committee before the end of the month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In his Senate appearance, Wilkie told lawmakers he believes that VA \u201chas calmed down\u201d in the first few weeks of his tenure as secretary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wilkie was nominated for the post after former VA Secretary David Shulkin was fired by Trump over Twitter in March, and after Trump\u2019s other replacement nominee, Rear. Adm. Ronny Jackson, withdraw from the process amid reports of unprofessional behavior while working as the White House physician.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Concerns linger over policy discussions between VA officials and three members of Trump&#8217;s Mar-a-Lago golf club who have no official government posts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":94859,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":38,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[104,38,106,31,33,9],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3294],"class_list":["post-29567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-acquisition-update","category-congress","category-daily-brief","category-home","category-newsletters","category-federal-oversight"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"OFWYCEPAIVBN7F7TEFYM537IXE","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/2018\/10\/09\/va-wont-turn-over-documents-related-to-outside-businessmens-influence-on-department-policy\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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