Senator presses Navy on whistleblower retaliation

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) is pushing the Navy for information on an admiral who allegedly retaliated against whistleblowers and faced no reprisal.

“As a United States senator, I have worked hard to strengthen protections for whistleblowers because I understand how important they are to ensuring accountability for the use of public funds,” she wrote Monday in a letter to Navy Secretary Ray Mabus.

“Failure to hold individuals accountable for taking actions against whistleblowers discourages others from coming forward, which is unacceptable.”

{mosads}McCaskill’s letter comes in response to a Washington Post article last week that said Rear Adm. Brian Losey was investigated five times by the Defense Department’s inspector general. The inspector general upheld three of the five complaints, The Post reported, and recommended the Navy take action against him for violating whistleblower-protection laws.

Rear Adm. Dawn Cutler, the Navy’s chief spokeswoman, told The Post that the Navy reviewed the inspector general’s findings, but didn’t believe they rose to level of misconduct. As such, no further action was taken.

That means that Losey will be promoted to a two-star admiral, a promotion put on hold during the investigation, according to The Post. Losey commands the Naval Special Warfare Command, which includes the elite SEAL teams.

McCaskill’s letter asks the Navy to brief her on the findings of the inspector general investigation and any disciplinary actions taken in response to the findings.

She said she was “disturbed” by the allegations in The Post story.

“As you know, whistleblowers play a critical role in protecting tax dollars by shining a light on waste, fraud and abuse within the federal government,” she wrote. “That is why I was disturbed to read in The Washington Post that, despite a recommendation from the Department of Defense Inspector General (DoD IG), Rear Admiral Brian Losey is not being held accountable for actions he took against two employees.”