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Committee chairman accuses VA of cover up

Email|Print|Single Page| Text size – + By Kimberly Hefling
Associated Press Writer / May 6, 2008

WASHINGTON—House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Bob Filner accused the Department of Veterans Affairs Tuesday of criminal negligence in the handling of data about the number of veterans who have committed suicide.

E-mails among VA officials were recently disclosed during a trial in San Francisco that suggested some might have been attempting to hide the number of attempted suicides by those under the agency's care. The judge has not yet ruled in the lawsuit filed by two veterans groups.

At the opening of a hearing by his panel on the issue, Filner said that officials involved with the e-mails should be fired by Veterans Affairs Secretary James Peake.

In prepared testimony, Peake said that data about the number of veterans attempting suicide was not released because of concerns about its accuracy. Peake will testify later this morning.

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