Just like Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth’s current colleagues – who are lining up in support of her primary opponent, those who worked with her at the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs continue to shed light as to why she is undeserving of yet another promotion.
Crain’s Chicago Business reports that Duckworth’s own chief deputy at the Illinois VA slammed her tenure – contending that Duckworth "was more about helping herself than doing a job for those who had been in the military service."
Duckworth – the Rod Blagojevich appointee who heads to trial herself in one month, was shamefully part of the very culture of corruption and mismanagement at the VA that Senator Mark Kirk works to combat as Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs.
If only Tammy Duckworth protected Illinois veterans like she does her political career.
In case you missed it, read the latest breaking development in Duckworth’s VA scandal:
Duckworth used vets’ post to build political career: ex-deputy
Crain’s Chicago Business
By Greg Hinz
March 3, 2016
The woman who was Tammy Duckworth’s chief deputy at the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs says Duckworth was focused not on serving vets but "lights, camera, action! . . . Building a pyramid for herself politically."
In an interview, Rochelle Crump, who was deputy director at the department for eight months until Duckworth pushed her out, contends that Duckworth, while well intended, was more about helping herself than doing a job for those who had been in the military service.
"I didn’t see any real efforts made by her," Crump told me. "I honor her (military) service. . . . (But) when we do this work, it has to be about veterans. It can never be about us."
Crump’s statements come at a key time as Duckworth, now a congresswoman from the northwest suburbs, is running for the Democratic nomination to the U.S. Senate, citing her military and related service as a big credential.
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However, this is not the first challenge to Duckworth’s record as the state’s veterans’ chief, between November 2006, and February, 2009.
Duckworth currently is the target of a whistleblower suit alleging that two department staffers received poor evaluations and were harassed after filing complaints against a department official. Duckworth and the state say the suit is without merit, emphasizing that the state court case previously was dismissed by a federal judge.
And then-Illinois Auditor General Bill Holland in 2009 released a fairly critical audit of the department, mostly during Duckworth’s tenure, saying that it lacked internal financial controls and records and generally was run in a somewhat sloppy fashion.
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Crump said she was hired by the state in 2003 after working for the federal and state governments, and a two-year stint in the military. Her specific assignment was to manage the department’s field operations and benefits section, leading a staff of about 100 people.
When Duckworth arrived three years later as the new director, "We had kind of a strange relationship," Crump said. "What I saw about her was more lights, cameras and action….I felt she was building her way politically. I won’t say she didn’t care about veterans. But she was building a pyramid for herself, politically."
Despite flaws in financial controls that surfaced under both Duckworth and her predecessor, no action was taken, Crump said. "It was like they weren’t going to let anything happen to her. They were building her career."