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10 Dec, 4 tweets, 1 min read
But, I have to be honest. I'm absolutely shocked by this. With the incredible talent available among vets, previous VA leaders, and others...why pick a non-veteran who has never run anything larger than a staff for the 2nd largest govt agency? This doesn't make sense at all.
Yet again we have a decent person as a choice whose main qualification seems to be they know Biden personally from the past. There is so much to unscrew at the VA HQ after Wilkie and Powers poisonous leadership but there are 18M veterans in the US and not one of them fit? So odd.
The key will now be who is DepSec, Chief of Staff and leads the Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs. I hope that McDonaugh chooses from the many talented veterans who have worked with the community and will leave the partisan bullshit of the last 4 years behind.
Talking to friends I do see the need to clean up and re-professionalize the VACO staff. I am positive that McDonough can do that. I wish him the absolute best of luck if he is truly the pick.

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More from @FPWellman

Fred Wellman Profile picture
11 Dec
I don't want to miss the VA OIG report today on @SecWilkie and his teams handling of the sexual assault report in the DC VA Hospital. It confirms everything we have been saying for months. It shows he is a toxic, thin skinned, and despicable leader. (1) washingtonpost.com/politics/va-wi…
When reports came in the victim was also a Congressional staffer Wilkie decided that it was a political attack on him and then proceeded to launch a campaign to discredit her. To do this he enlisted his appointees to do his dirty work. That's where this gets really sinister. (2)
@DeptVetAffairs leaders decided attacking the victim was right. He connected with Dan Crenshaw who deployed with the victim to get dirt on her (that was false). Then Curt Cashour a public affairs official literally called a NYT reporter to shop it. (3) wsj.com/articles/va-se…
Read 15 tweets
Fred Wellman Profile picture
20 Nov
I've known Jim Byrne for years and the term Boy Scout comes up a lot about him. He went into this Admin wanting to serve veterans and gave up a great paying job for it. He was not prepared for the Machiavellian insanity that is the Trump Admin and the thin skinned SecVA.
This story is even worse than what's printed. VA public affairs political appointees did try to shop dirt on the victim calling several reporters and as a testament to their profession none of them printed any of it. The idea that Crenshaw and Wilkie didn't talk is ridiculous.
They used the exact same "numbers" in separate sources. How did Wilkie know about these alleged 6 reports that Crenshaw mentioned months later? Crenshaw said he wouldn't slander the victim then he did it...on the record. A member of Congress smearing a professional staffer.
Read 7 tweets
Fred Wellman Profile picture
27 Oct
Continuing my review of Trump's many acts of disrespect to veterans and service members today. Back to 2017, just a few months after taking office he sat on his toilet at 7:00 AM and kicked thousands of patriotic service members out of uniform in 3 tweets over 15 minutes. Thread!
With Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation yesterday the rights of LGBQT+ Americans are in focus again and Trump has shown he's willing to trample their rights to appease his evangelical/conservative base. He wasted no time as POTUS making a heinous attack on the community in July 17.
In a surprise early morning tweet thread spread over 13 tense minutes Trump lied and said he had consulted with his "generals" and decided to implement a ban on the service of transgender individuals. The news shocked the Pentagon and service members.
Read 11 tweets
Fred Wellman Profile picture
26 Oct
Going to review some of Trump's biggest failures with the military and veterans community this week as we approach Nov 3rd. Let's start way back and remember Trump's long history of disrespect for military service before the White House. Strap in for a thread! #LincolnProject
Trump was sent to military school by his father and thinks it means he served. He's spun his experience for decades, but, it's also the first time his toxic leadership got him in trouble when he was moved out of a command position in less than a month. washingtonpost.com/politics/decad…
Then he went off to college and used deferrals and finally a completely dubious 'bone spurs' diagnosis to dodge service. He would later tell his lawyer Micheal Cohen, 'You think I'm stupid? I wasn't going to Vietnam'. Only 'suckers' joined the military. newsweek.com/donald-trump-b…
Read 11 tweets
Fred Wellman Profile picture
22 Oct
2 days ago I tweeted about @RepDougCollins using his military uniform in a @CollinsforGA campaign ad. It's much worse and advocates are calling for a real investigation and UCMJ punishment for the Congressman for violating DOD regs and norms. Strap in for a thread! #Georgia
So what's the reg? DoD Directive 1344.10, “Political Activities by Members of the Armed Forces,” details what is and what is not allowed in campaign materials for active, reserve, or retired members of the military running for office. It's very precise. esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Doc…
Only photos of the candidate in uniform allowed are photos as part of the their biographical information, when accompanied by other non-military photos, and when also accompanied by a disclaimer stating that the appearance of the photo in uniform doesn’t imply a DoD endorsement.
Read 11 tweets
Fred Wellman Profile picture
19 Oct
I spent the weekend diving into the IRS Form 990's for the Tommy Tuberville Foundation after reading how so little of the money went to the mission of supporting veterans. I've been a veterans advocate for 10 yrs and seen a lot of these. Strap in for a long thread! #Alabama
I looked at the 990's published by ProPublica (projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/org…). You won't find them on the foundations website or any information about the officers, legal framework or donations. But, you will find out how AWESOME TOMMY IS and how much he loves the troops!
The accounting and paperwork is an absolute mess. Different forms every year, different addresses, wildly missed reporting numbers, totals that don't add up and bizarre financial choices. At a minimum the foundation has been incredibly poorly and unprofessionally managed.
Read 13 tweets

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