Crenshaw implicated in Trump admin smear attempt

At least two veterans groups, along with more than a thousand individual former service members and Department of Defense civilians, have called for the resignation of Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) over his alleged role in helping [Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie] collect discrediting information about a female veteran who said she was sexually assaulted.

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Crenshaw, a former Navy SEAL, and [the female Navy veteran] at one point served in the same command unit together.

"As a veteran, Dan Crenshaw swore the same oath we did to protect the Constitution, yet in Congress, he's doing the exact opposite, enabling Trump and now, silencing and smearing his fellow veterans," Common Defense said in a statement. "It's clear: Dan Crenshaw is not morally fit to be a member of the House of Representatives."

The push comes as Vote Vets and hundreds of individual veterans have also said Crenshaw should vacate his office.

A nearly yearlong investigation by the VA inspector general (IG) released last week showed an orchestrated effort by Wilkie, a Trump appointee, to collect dirt on Goldstein that could discredit her claim that a man sexually assaulted her at a VA facility in September 2019. Crenshaw told Wilkie that Goldstein has made past frivolous sexual assault allegations in the Navy, Wilkie's top deputies told investigators, an allegation that Crenshaw has vehemently denied.

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Crenshaw's communication director, Justin Discigil, provided the same statement to Newsweek that it did earlier this week when two of Crenshaw's Democratic veteran colleagues—Reps. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) and Jason Crow (D-Colo.)—called for a congressional ethics probe into the Republican.

"This is a completely fabricated narrative that has no truth to it. Rep. Crenshaw never participated in a 'smear campaign,' as he has said repeatedly," Discigil said. "Any claim to the contrary is a slanderous political attack and nothing more."

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The IG report also said that Wilkie and his senior officials worked to erode Goldstein's reputation both within the VA and to the press by funneling potentially damaging information to reporters. The report labeled actions by Wilkie, his top aides and Crenshaw as "unprofessional and disparaging."

Goldstein is a staffer for House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Mark Takano (D-Calif.), which led Wilkie and Crenshaw to claim her sexual assault allegations were part of a Democratic plot against the men.

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The report concluded that no criminal evidence was found for either Wilkie or Crenshaw, but the internal watchdog noted that it could not fully investigate because the two men refused to cooperate. Crenshaw would not speak with the IG while Wilkie declined follow-up interviews.

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In less than 24 hours, more than a thousand individual veterans have also signed onto an open letter for Crenshaw's resignation.

  Newsweek