Not everybody has been intimidated into silence - yet

A whistleblower came forward Friday accusing leaders of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) of seeking damaging information on a woman who alleged she was sexually assaulted at a VA facility.

The House Veterans Affairs Committee told Military.com Saturday that it had "received details from an individual with knowledge of decision making by senior VA leaders that shows they attempted to gather damaging information" on Navy Reserve Lt. Andrea Goldstein. Goldstein works on the panel and focuses on issues impacting female veterans.

The committee added that VA leadership also "may have improperly utilized government time and resources" to dig up dirt on Goldstein, and that it was working “to determine to what extent VA leaders attempted to tarnish a staff member's character and spread false information about her past in retaliation for her reporting of a sexual assault.

  The Hill