Congress attempted to hold an oversight hearing about sexual assaults in the military and to that end, a subpoena was issued for the head of the sexual assault program to testify.
The Pentagon refused to allow her to attend the hearing. Yep, they really don't want the word to get out about what is going on within their ranks. From TPM Muckraker:
The House panel had issued a subpoena for Dr. Kaye Whitley, the director of the Defense Department's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office.
But Pentagon officials ordered her not to testify and instead sent her supervisor, Michael Dominguez, a principal deputy undersecretary for defense, in her place.
Whitley's absence came on the same day a federal judge rejected the White House's claim to blanket immunity from Congressional oversight in an unrelated case.
Dominguez told the committee the Pentagon was not citing executive privileged but had simply instructed Whitley not to show up.
A Pentagon spokeswoman, Cynthia O. Smith, provided a statement today in response to questions about Whitley's defiance of the subpoena.
It is inappropriate to question Dr. Whitley about the program when Mr. Dominguez, the decision maker responsible for the program and for the program's results, is available to answer those questions.Mr. Dominguez has full accountability and responsibility for the Sexual Assault Prevention Office and he has the full authority to discuss and answer all questions regarding the SAPRO and the Department's sexual assault policies. Dr. Whitley is responsible for implementing the policy....
Dr. Whitley has been on the Hill numerous times discussing the DoD's sexual assault program and she will continue to do so.
Lawmakers interpreted the move as an affront to Congressional authority and said they had specifically sought Whitley based on her knowledge of how the military's sexual assault programs actually work in practice.
Ain't that a load of horseshit. The hearing was held on the day that ABC News reported that a GAO report states that sexual assault is being under-reported by at least 50 percent.
Below is a video of the testimony of a female soldier, Ingrid Torres at Waxman's oversight hearing courtesy of the The Real News Network.
