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Understanding 9/11tv Coast Guard Commandant Testifies on Sexual Assault Harrassment at Academy CSPAN June 15, 2024 3:41pm-5:18pm EDT
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>>witnesses. problems of harassment were over and unfortunately we have found the opposite to be true. in fact, problems of sexual assault in the coast guard arebe past. they are a present and prevalent problem. the mishandling of abuse complaints seemstolerably common. reports in the last
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few months that attests to this problem and the evidence points to coverup continuing as exempl■1 to producing documents be part of thewe are hypothesizt the coast guard claiming that the problem is one of the past. is in a document that we have. it is a handwritten document arguing the operation should not be revealed and we begin this in the wake of news
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operation anchor, the coast guard investigation, been kept hidden from coreit was hid. in it out of public view, coast guard leaders believed as these handwritten thingsho the question is what will the coast guard do in the present? what and doing the right thingow expecting action. d know is our
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investigation has shownuo a morl rot within the coast guard thate rs. the whistleblors described coverups allowing them to be treated as trivial administrative matters. recent whistleblower who has come forward is shannon norenshe was the official respoe fo complaints a to us stating se
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would resign, she said the following. lied to me and used me to lie to victims, silence victims and to discourage victims from to congress about cases. i don't think 13 years, 25 years in law enforcement i have seen a statement a damming as the one sent to us, but she is only one. another whistleblower wrote to us i can say that assigned to,
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i experienced bullying, hin i bs to or learned of others being treated unfairly. ■this is not limited to sexual assaults. statements reflect a broken culture. not at some point in the past, but right now the present. last and incendiary email was circulated to person with allegations about recent mishandling of sexual assaults instead of addressing the claims, the coast guard it from the inbox. the allegations went viral on the internet.
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earlier, toasurvivors stories s with accounts of whistleblower experience, victimization. the reason it was suppressed was quote it could exacerbate the narrative that the coast guard is in a sexual assault crisis that is just a couple of monequy the coast guard responded to it is refusio th documents deeme sensitive. which isembarrassing. tuation demands truth
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lling. following the evidence where it@ embarrassing to friends, colleagues, predecessors and current leadership. to admiral fagan for being here today along with master chief■eiones. and i've said before to her publicly that i/o we candifferee facing the truth and disclosing it. there is an obligation to survivors, the public and this
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committee to be forthcoming. they wille document all of yest. that because thousands of pages wereit is di. dump is the word used ■úto describeproviding a ton ofs when timing and substance make it redundant a difficult to analyze. so we would like more cooperation from the coast guard. ct and admiration for what the coast guard has done, national security and its storied histo.
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■i support1a the academy in musm to celebrate london but for right now we need a commitment not just in words, but in actions that the problem will be addressed and concealmenttroubling as abuse and assault. with that i turned to the ranking member. >> i ask that my written i attended a ceremony ino the
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milwaukee. it is called the field of flags. wiscon ultimate price, we commemorated the anniversary of d-day. feel the men and women in the military are the highest among us. being able to step up and make that sacrifice is honorable. and i cannot express my gratitude on the. i wishinvestigation -- the chais incorrect.
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cannot say that. i was hoping that things were turning around, this was in the past. cannot say that is the truth. i was hoping that the assurances that they seriously, that they will be transparent cd recognized that is through accountability. i wish that was true. it has not turned out to be that way. we were 25 or 30,000 pages of documents and we 17,000. i talked yesterday, not the most pleasant conversation and i suggested the only way to get
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through the hearing is turn over documents unredacted. about 1000 pages in a redacted form. this is what we get. ■xhere is a good one. this is not fullhave been doing investigations for years. put into this role and you almost think they must provide conferences or workshops for ■xmembers of the executive branh to avoid complying with
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requests. it is the same letter around. we are going to be transparent and come clean. you that. you cannot take copies or notes. itpa yesterday my admiral -- he could the growing frustration on my part, of how -- this is bipartisan. departments, agencies within both administrations, democrat and republican completely ignored our responsibility to ovid information to the american public and american people.andirman isdogged.
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it requires a hearing to lay i wish the assurances were true. but i'm not looking for, it is necessary. =-the sooner the coast guard cos transparent, holds people accountable, as unpleasant as that will be, the only way this can be fixed, the finest among us can feel safe is with truth,
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transparency and accountability. that is what we are trying to do as a forum for accountabilities this and i hope and pray the truth is revealed ank you. >>0. linda fagan's the 27th commandant of the coast guard. prior to assuming her duties she was the commandant and deputy for coast guardef are thy
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they are being accompanied for questions. he is the mostafter because carr advisor on personnel matters. i administer the oath if you would rise. you swear the testimony is the truth? thank you. commandant, if you would proceed. >> g morning chair and members, i ask that my testimony be entered. the coast guard is on a journey to ensure our workforce experience his the cultureqú -- experiences the culture they expect. past sexual assault revealed wee
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failed to ensure a culture that is■s safe, where every member is free from harm. they shared some version of this kind of thing happens in my response was not in my coast guard. sexu assault and harassment harmxs our members a we are. the stories, share their pain. i recognize the trust that was broken and the difficult stories. as painful as this canvictims se stories to affect change for
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victims and survivors. sorry, thank you for yourou■sto the victims i undersr nlu there is nothing more important than earning your trust in our ability to support you. @i want to repeat our failure ws a mistake that eroded trust. subcommittee investigating and continue to cooperate. we have devoted resources to the subcommittee and will continue. we conducted a sweep of records, 2 million and all documents have been provedthe 'n
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my written testimony. as the commandant i reaffirm past and present that i remain o lasting change. i've taken actions to■!■r■l investigate workplace climate. this includes efforts to regain trust. are incorporating victims and survivors and influencing the subcommittee. together we implemented the safe to rept is not punished.
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voices not reaching leship men we amplified victims voices and addressed issues. welity is a critical part of survivors and we are leveraging congress. we've implemented a new policy to reduc retirement. we investigate timely reports of misconduct while providing support. two ensure this i've implemented core values to createty. there is more that we are i asko continue with the journey.
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they cautioned culture change is not easy or quick, but it is critical to our success. we have started this work. i know the people and i know we are rising to the challenge. sustained effort will make the nsive to the public we serve. thank you. >> thank you. we will have rounds of seven minutes each and then a second round probably afterward. have youaken action to separate any officer from for rn against a survivor?
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commandant f■magan?■have you acd those coast guard? taken action to fire an officer? >> i do not have a name in front of me. i have not done a comprehensive review. the answer is i do not know. >> you do not know whether you have separated anyone or taken action? >> we separate officers all th>t any member of your for failure to act on a complaint? >> i personally in my job have not been aware, have not been officer who is
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guilty oftaken action. if there is an officer found ilty i will ensure we act>> thas well. let me ask you w respect to retaliation, what measures you taking to prevent retaliation? some of the work as an organization, when this came to light, we could have said this was just mishandling sexual assaulty. that is not how we have to find the problem. sexual assault and harassment are crimes and harmful behaviors create
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intolerance of retribution. senar: what actions are you taking to prevent retaliation? procedures, commanding officers not be tolerated in the organization and you must act to create accountability. are you awa tsurvivors? >> my goal is to create an organization where everyone is safe fromarmful behaviors
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until eryo has the experience they deserve and we get that right more often than not. >> have you read the letter or statement that sin -- shann>> it the allegations that shannon brought forward will be part of the investigation. shannon has been andible employee, she has made an in■ecredible differenc as -- at the committee. allegations will be>> have y■oue document? >> i have not seen her statement. chair blumenthal: are you aware that as part of that report, she recounted that survivors were denied the opportunity to ■d cg605. yo
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are you not? ms. fagan: i am cooperating with the ig investigati -- chair blumenthal: i am talng about what you know. ms. fagan: i do not know the specifics of her allegation. ig. if there is evidence of misconduct we will work in w and policy --. chair blumenthal: i apologize for interrupting, but my time is limited'm going to ask you, youw what cg6905 is, right? it enables veterans of the coaa. when that document is unsigned it cannot access the benefit■bs. opportunity to sign that document, not only are they■q victims of sexual assault and survivors, but they are pren health care they need to deal with the trauma and other medical problems that may beg f.
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i find one of the most damning parts of her letter to be that those survivors evidently were die opportunity.o give those veterans the opportunity to access care and benefits? ms. fagan: i am committed to cooperating th the ig.6m understand what did or did not happen. chair blumenthal: is the ig saying you cannot give them the opportunity to sign?■#]■÷
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ms. fagan: the ig has said while it is under investigation, i cannot initiate actio benefits has access to those benefits. this allegation just came forward yesterday and we are workinwi understand what happened, what did not happen, and then we will work to support victims. my priority is supporting victims. chair blumenthal: when will the ig investigation be done? ms. fagan: you will have to ask the ig. chair blumenthal: you don't know. but in the meaime, without any justification. i find that absolutely untenable and intolerable. and i think it will impact morale within the coast guard. wouldn'you agree? ms. fagan: we continue to worktd to supporting victims. i don't want any victim to not get the support --. investigation, i submit, respectfully, cannot be used as a shield for inaction.t be usede for failing to address these ongoing problems. it cannot be used as a reason to reos
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and the ig has not asked you to refuse medical care, or deny access, or refuse documents to this committee, soar■uf aware. i'm going to turn to the ranking member we are going to adhere strictly to the seven minutes so that everybody gets a chance, and then we will come back for another round. n. by the way, there is a primary excuse that i use. chalk that up as another one from the workshop. commandant fagan, you testified that you turned all the documents over to the committee? ms. fagan: we have been working in good faith with the committee rolling production of documents and we began this process last
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summer, added people in resourcing to ensure we arabuctn of documents. this is an unprecedented undertaking. they are short of 2 million paegard at with regardesponsives the subcommittee is interested in. we have turned over 18,000 pages of documents to the subcommittee that includes 91 reports of investigation from assault that occurred at the coast guard academy. i understand that we have done this consistent with advice from general sevictim privacy, victim dignity, witness private -- witness privacy, sensitive public health information, toeyent privilege, and the predecisional documents. in those cases where -- we have offered in camera review. it is standard
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we weom faith with the committee to provide the documents. sen. johnson: we have not received all the documeá documents. they are still going under review. ms. fagan: we have completed the review. you have received all the documents. sen. johnson: one of the documents, and i asked you when west metn our office, i showed you in email, there was an attachment to the email, the attachment was not provided. and you made the cmit to provide us that attachment. i believe that was an earlier version of an earlier draft of the report on operation fouled anchor. you committed to provide that and that has not been provided to ms. fagan: i know you have the fouled anchor report, the final report. sen. johnson: again, part of our investigation would be to see earlier drafts.
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i so when you are investigating a cover-up, some of the document93 you're goi t see the final report from a five year investigation. we are aware of the fact that that initial draft was 11 pages, important for us to see what was cut out of that 11 pages to produce a six page report. so whecan xp the original drafts, the 11 page initial draft of the report? ms. fagan: i continue to work with my genel taking advice with regard to --d be given to not turn over the initial draft of the report?
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transparent? what could possibly prevent that from happening? ms. fagan: -- with good fa provide duck meant --. sen. johnson: good faith is always the excuse you here. houthi report to?do you report ? ms. fagan: secretary mayorkas. sen. johnson: have you reported to him? ms. fagan: yes. sen. johnson: what interest has she shown in this, let's face it, this cover-up? ms. fagan: this is not a cover-up. this is an incredible organization. i am committedbré organization forward and making the culture change necessary and i understand that there is a responsiveness to the committee. continue to work with my own lawyers and the department to ensure we are providing documents consistent with executive branch and nsss with accommodation. sen. johnson: you have to
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understand, i have heard this time and time agn multiple investigations. the exact same excuses given all the time in terms of not being responsive. well, we have already cut it down to somewhere between 25 and 30 a document that you request, from a u.s. senator to the commandant of the coast guard. the commandant of the coast guard says yeah, we will provide that document, and it is not provided. i am not talking 2 million pages, am t talking 25,000 pages. i am talking about an 11 page hat took five years that was then covered upce can't get that 11 pages. why? ms. fagan: i remain committed --. sen. report?
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ms. fagan: i have not read that 11 pagpread the final fouled anchor report that was closed out in februy of 2020. sen. johnson: you have not been inquisitive enou tial draft? ms. fagan: i am focused --. sen. johnson: there is obviously there is obviously a reason i'm making a point of it in his hearing. i think you're being very revealing in terms of att want o reveal that. that might harm our institution. that might be embarrassing. so let's leave at oave these fis out. so if i get nothing out of this hearing todú i your complete commitment to show us that full 11 page draft report. if we have to review it ini can1 pages in camera.
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it is a little more difficult to do another 10 or 20,000 pages. that is why we need these documents here so be can search them, we can search for ke ■ phrases. this is how you do these investigations. in camera review is not a good will make an exception for these 11 pages. ms. fagan: i will commit to getting those 11 pages in camera review. johnson: ok, thank you. chair blumenthal: nator■÷ sen. hassan: i am going to mov$s -- there it goes. thank you for holding this really important hearing and ank you admiral fagan and master chief jones for appearing here today a f i remain deeply disturbed, as my guard's response to sexualst assault and harassment.coast g's
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failures preceeded your leadership, the agency has been slow to implement changes under your command. you have missed targets forplems from the accountability and tr you were slow to reform service members that nondisclosure agreements to not preclude them from coming forwaras istleblowers to congress or other appropriate entities. it is also becoming more clear that the c gly exceeds its academy and the service needs to do better to protect all of its members. to the brave women and men who commit their lives to their country, to keeping us all safe, secure and free, too many of you were to sexual assault and harassment and it is unacceptable that the coast guard covered iyou the help that you deserve. so i thank you all for your bravery and for yoiloing to start with a question that i think you answered in your
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opening for i was going to ask does the coast guard have a sexual assault and harassment problem, but i take it fro testimony that you agree that it does. ms. fagan: the coast guard reflects society. any sexuis one too many. i am committed to creating a culture in the environment that is intolt retaliation and retribution. sen. hassan: so you agree that the coast guard has a sexuals mr issue. according to public posts online, the coast guard sexual to film and release videos featuring victims discussinghem. the videos were supposed to be posted to an internaork this past april in recognition of sexual assault awarenessproga similar program done by the u.s. air force.
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however, these videos were not n internal memo that recommended against sharing the videos was■< leaked. thinese videos, quote, could continue to exacerbate the that the coast guard is in a sexual assault crisis, despite anchor, including only historical cases of sexualult ad academy. the memo also notes, quote, committees and personal staffs e coast guard and demand accountability. i'd ask this internal memo be entered into the record. do i have permission, mr. chairman? mr. chairman? >> yes, thank you. >> to me, this memo reflects continued problems with the coast guard's commitment to accountability and transparency. it also shows an unwillingness to fully confront ongoing
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alletions of sexual assault and harassment. admiral fagan, when did you become aware of this storyteller were you consulted in the decision on whether to share thvi concerned that some agency leadership apparently feared accountability? ms. fagan: i didot become aware of the storyteller program until after the interviews had already been made. the pain that the victims have carried in silence for far too victim's stories to be out there. i am not afraid of the victim's stories being shared, and being shared publicly. sen. hassan: but clearly some in your organization his memo. were you consulted in the decision on whether to share these videos, and are you concerned that some agency leadershipppartly feared accountability? ms. fagan: i was not consulted, and i am myopically cu
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creating a culture around accountability.■l not just for senior leaders, but at every level of the organization, and that extends into policy and application. ke that as a commitment that if you have agents of leadership whose junt was that they wanted to instruct folks not to share these videos because they wer3e ngress pushing the service more on this issue.■) i take it then that you will take action to hold agency leadership accountable for their decisions to keep these videos away from the public? ms. fagan: those videos have been released. i remain committed to we are doing culture work in the ornization. i am proud of how much we have acli year. sen. hassan: i am interrupti,
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i am sorry, because my time is limited. as recently as this spring, the culture among senior leadership in the united states coast guard was such that they decided to withhold these videos because accountability.s very recent. so c your senior leadership as far as we can tell from this me released until this memo was leaked. so you have got work to do. ms. fagan: i am committed to the journey.at is in place in the organization today has taken time to get there.■lture. we will become an organization th i behaviors, that is myopically focused on transparency, and creates accountability for every member of the organization.
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sen. hassan: i thank you for that commitment. i will note that incidents like this one, where videos were prepared, there was a plan, they were going to be released at least to an internal site in april during sexual assault awareness month. sexual assaults month. ns about the way it would look for the coast guard and that it might subject the coast guartour. that reluctance indicates failul does not understand the significance or committed to sexual assault and harassment. i will turn it back to the chair but the coast guard has work to do here and we need to understand how it was that a leadership group that is supposed to be committed to changihe culture took the steps it did to keep these videos away from the public.
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thank you, mr. chair. chair blumenthal:derstand corred on that you did not review those documents that were held? the documents offered for review in camera. you can't take notes, you can't take notes or ta about them, you can't use them. you have not read -- whatever number there are, there mayan: e are working with the committee to be responsive to the investigation and the matters at hand. i have a staff of 10 that have been working nearly around-the-clock since last summer toreate and produce the documents on a rolling basis to be responsive to the committee.
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aill you, the documents have no victim name, no classified information. they have nothing that would be privileged. what they have is evidence of bad. it would be embarrassing. is just one example of documents that have been withld. just so thwo understands, we raised this issue repeatedly with you, in letters and phone calls. we are not playing gotcha here. what i want, and itnson alludeda commitment that will you make that commitment?
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adm. fagan: i continue to commit to the committee to work through the process and in good faith to provide access to all the information necessary for the committee to complete the investigation. chair blumenthal: you know, i'm a lawyer. i used to be a prosecutor. i know when defendants are party to privileges or reasons for nondisclosure. but i also know it's up to the l is said and done to make decisions. you are the leader. these decisions are yours. you say in your testimony, and i respect you for saying it, that there twocoast guard's viewing with this issue. guard members are not currently experiencing thevironment they rightfully expect and deserve. second, there is a noticeable erosion of trust in the coast guard leadership.
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i think disclosure is important to both of those issuese simply aggravates the challengestand ws in your testimony and in response to senator hassan, that the problems of sexual assault in the coast guard reflect sexual assault occurring generally in our society, we hold our mility higher standard. we don't say, oh, well there's campuses, therefore it's ok that the coast guard -- ok at th coast guard academy. i know you are not saying it is ok, but it demands stronger acn military service that has earned
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and deserves our respect for the great contribution that you make to our country and that your gr doing. so, failure to disclose, i, throughout the coast guard and more generally in the way the public views your service. let me ask you about the 33 directed actio recommend i the accountability and transparency review. your testit you have taken 33 separate actions. the government accountability you have done only five of those directed actions completely. are you saying that you've now completed all of the others? adm. fagan: first like
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to affirm i hold my workforce to a higher standard in society. sexual assault and harassment is a crime, has no place in the coast guard, and we are going to continue to move to become -- harmful behaviors. the accountability transparency review was a 90 day review that was done to start to build the roadmap ahead for the ur to take as an organization. there were 33 directed actions and we were in various forms of implementation. we have done things like create an entprrd from victims like thy didn't feel like they had a voice with senior leadership. we are the only military that hasn't surprise wide dictum ad an enterprisewide victim advocate. we implemented a in advance of when congress notified us victimse reporting,e put something in place. we are estabshing a new readiness training week for members as they complete boot camp. we changed how weservice policyo
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those have had substantiated cases of sexual assault. we are ensuring victims are able to be presente statements in the■c -- we are ensuring that victims are able to be prent at proceedings. we have signed an mou. i've added company officers and chiefs at the coast guard academy. we have updated the cadet summer program. we are takintion. the work is not done. this is work that we will continue to endeavor. but we have not waited and we will continue to invest. i need to come to congress and asng support. chair blumenthal: how much do you need in terms of resources that you don't have? adm. fagan: i need to come backr to that. the coast guard investigative service officer -- chair blumenthal: now is the time, commandant. we're viewing the 2025 budget. adm. fagan: i commit to you in shororwer. hr and i.t.
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system. the personnel systeme on a computer basis, it does not provide the kind of clari i neee to you and we need to make those investments. ch i mti the accountability and transparency review. how many have you co they are ae -- i don't have the exact number in front of me because i don't view the work as ever completely being done. chair blumenthal: they establishedu and you are saying you don't know how many you have completed? chair blumenthal: adm. fagan: i will adm. fagan: have my staff come over to give you an exact accoting on where we are on the 33 but the point i'm making, those early■zou tee actionsstmek the coast guard is doing to actually draw culture change. chair blumenthal: senator often have you talked to secretary mayorkas about operation fouled anchor?
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adm. fagan: i have talked to him on several occasions about it. the department is aware of fouled anchor and basically aware of fouled anchor. ■hsen. he's the assistant anchos implemented, correct? was he aware of it then? adm. fagan: i don't know. sen. johnson: how often have you talked to secretary mayorkas ou investigation of operation fouled anchor, and the sexual assault issues in the coast guard? adm. fagan: when i have is not on every occasion, but we have talked about this commiee f oversight, being responsive to the committee, continuing to work with he and the staff to ensure we are responsive and complainant -- compliant. sen. johnson: so is it your assessment he takes this
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investigation pretty seriously and wants to be responsive? adm. fagan: again, he and the staff continue to support the coast guard and work with us as we continue to work with the committee to be responsive. sen. johnson: you are aware that the department of homeland security has 245,000 employees? m. se j people in the foia office you rs issue? adm. fagan: i have not asked him. but i brought staff onically fos seriously enough to offer you help in this? fagan: he has absolutely offered help from his staff and we continue to be engaged with the department on the matter. sen. jns involved in redacting or approving documents? adm. fagan: we continue to work through document production,
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read action, and release to the committee. sen. johnson: one reason i ask is because we know know from hha officer, person in■w charge of providing informat requests, thr advice on how to avoid producing documents under foia. are you aware of that? adm. fagan:sen. johnson: i am at concernsmiliar with caitlin morrow? adm. fagan: yes. sen. johnson: she entered the coast guard academy in 2004 and left in 2005 after she was sexually assaulted by a o is still in the coast guard. she appeared before this committee. one of her requests that i thought was pretty reasonable was just to get hershe still har records, has she? adm. fagan: she has gotten her records. as i understand, one of the
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tims is they are unable through the freedom unredacted copies of their own investigations. i welcome the opportunity to work with the committee to rehe freedom of information act, and provide an opportunity for victims to he orts of investigation. as it is currently prescribed income the, it seems like that is a righteous thing to do for victims, ensure they have access to their own information. sen. johnson: i would like to see your personal commitment to make sure she gets to see her full unredacted rords. victim has access that they are entitled to their reports and access.■n their specific report of investigation. sen. johnson:■áih i've been told there are extensions granted on this and the full access
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she wants. i guess my final commentr( is ti would contact se make a requestr significant help in terms of personal committee's document request. thank you, mr. chairman. chair blumenthal: senator hassan. sen. hassan: thanks, mr. chairman. admiral, both enlisted recruits and cadets at the academy -- participate in an pacing training. es to test recruits and cadets physically and mentally and they aree intrt according to briefings, there is minimal discussion of sexual and victims services during basic training for enlisted recruits. i understand the basic training is stressful and exhausting and that the coast guard was perhaps rightfully worried seminars in
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the middle of basic training would not receive the attention they d i'm concerned the coast guard is missing jor opportunity to improve the culture and instill core values into new service members right from the beginning. how could the coast guleverage e summer to■óar expectations regarding sexual misconduct from recruits andmoment they join tht guard? adm. fagan: i wl and if you alt masterhiopportunity we have to train and an culture rate enlisted cadets, and frankly, reinforce for officers in our senior enlisted.l= training, policy, leadership. all of that is on the table to reinforce, how we become intolerant of harmful behaviors and ensurg e' no
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ambiguity as far as what is that and how it is lived everyday. we are adding a specific week at the end of cape may to address exactly the sort of, no ambiguity on what our core values mean on respect and devotion to duty. sen. hassan: thank you. master chief jones: if i may, senator. thank you for the question. the program the commandant is referring to is the transition am. we are starting in october whice after recruits graduate from cape may. for basic training, we train them and move them off-site to an 100% on the tide of their personal values and ethics to our coastia guard ethics and how to identify behaviors that ta of assault, harassment and behavioe can train those out of
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furthermore, every coast guard recruit will get investing intos type of training and principles that will be built ia and c school. all members go to c schools. ite enlisted performance qualifications. it is going to be built into our enlisted evaluation systems to be can measure how the training is taking place. we recently also the initiation process to train the chiefs of today for what we need. sen. hassan: i appreciate this but let me be clear. during basic training itself, there's the possibility someone will bexpoxual misconduct, righc training, a time of exhaustion,o about reporting seduct? at what point does the coast guard help recruits and
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cadets understand what the rits are from the get-go? master chief jones: it starts day on it starts at cape may and is sprinkled in thr5oughout. the reason we need to start this program afterwards is they have eight weeks of basic military instruction so we really want to cement what they have been taught at cape m sen. hassan:on fouled anchor final report stated academy leadership "did not adequalyestigate alleged offenses as cereals criminal matters and hold perpetrators appropriately accountable." while statutes of limitation or retirement may preclude prosecution, there are other gud individuals accountable for justice to victims. for example according to coast , guard briefings, the service is considering pursuing a reduction in rank for at least one indidual who left the coast guard. it may be insufficient but it would at least provide some measure of accountability.
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what steps is the coast arfor sexual misconduct when they retire? adm. fagan: in the case you are referencing, i am acting on that case. the ig investigationeeds to be completed. we've asked recently to see whether we are able to proceed with regard to reduction in rank. complete , and as there are findings ofsh policy and law, we will create that accountability. the last grade held board i mentioned, that isarification ol begin regularly reviin impacts't pay granthe authority we have to create that accountability where miscondt has occurred. sen. hassan: ok. i will follow-up with you on up as well on the whole issue of the ig's investigation and your perception of constraints because of the ig investigation.
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i have one more queson for the second round. victim resources are located on land. coast guard policy does require at least one trained volunteer victim advocate on board during sea duty. in cases where volunteer vicmade tasked as victim advocates. in these instances, victims may fear coming forward or choose to wait until sea duty concludes to report, whiccould meee what is the coast guard doing to improve victim services and access to independent resources such as volunteer victim advocates for cadets and ■# on sea duty? adm. fagan: i will ensure we take that proactive, anyone should have an access to a ensure we are making progress.
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sen. hassan: just reinforcing the basic part when it comes to sexual assault and misconduct. ■pa reporting chain that includs a superior officer is not acceptable. thank you. i want to follow-up on a couple of your answers the senator hassan's questions. i understand criminal prosecution may be difficult administrative action, either reprimand or diminishing ■b and you say you haven't done any of those things, correct? adm. fagan: for example, the last grade held, we regarded the specific case mentioned in a couple of the accused, we have
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authority to do that. i know i keep talking about the ig investigation, but as that concludes, that ll insights into whether noncriminal misconduct occurred or not, and we will work to create what the administrative ig will conclude. chair blumenthal: don't you ha your own investigation? adm. fagan: no, i'm relying on the ig to do the investigation. congress has authorized $1.5 mit for an independent third-party review. the department is close to finalizing the contract. chair blumenthal: that's what i mean. haven't you completed that reh÷vi that has been provided? adm. fagan: they are in the process of contracting that independent third-party now. chair blumenthal: so you don't
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veation underway right now on your own? adm. fagan: no, i'm working full support of the c and congressional chair blumenthal: as you know, the ig investigation can sometimes be held confidential. know and maybe not even you. can you commit to making public the inv adm. fagan: i commit to continuing to support and make thig divulge information to the full extent extent -- chair blumenthal: you can't be■l making anything public right now. adm. fagan: i'm rking in full support of the ig committee. i want the information. i want the insights. it's an important part of the accounting the progress this organization is making.
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chair blumenthal: don't you know engh now to at least■: reprimand the officials responsible foriáy withholding and concealing the fouled anchor support? -- report from the united states congress? adm. fagan: i continue to work in full support of the ig, and as that report concludes, we will work to undan what misconduct occurred or did not occur. at this point, i don't a chair blumenthal: do you know whether you don't have any evidence of misconduct? adm. fagan: no. concealed and withheld, you agree with that. adm. fagan: we failed to disclose the fouled anchor report to congress, that was a mistake. i cannot go back and change that. i remain committed to moving the organization ahead.
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chair blumenthal: but someone made the decision and in fact, i wi t provid again, at'p dof considerations that were discussed explicitly by the then vice commandant after consulting with other leaders of the coast guard at the time.dv you commd portunity to enable the coast guard to come clean. the pros and the cons. they decided the cons outweighed the pros, in part because no victim coming forward now. that was untrue.
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that was untrue. long-standing policy, no direct line? there was no justification for concealing this report other than avoiding embarrassment. that's not a mistake in the sense of inadvertent misplacing that report. someone's desk and lose track of it. they did that's misconduct, is it not? adm. fagan: i remain committ ork forward with the committee and department to ensure we have proper accountability. you.
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in april, the coast guard attempd publication of those videos that eventually they were disclosed, but not until after the coast guard made an effort to suppress th i want to clarify your responses to senator hassan. spread throughout the coast guard community which alleged, resulted in his junior member --ber experiencing further sexual harassment, retaliatory false reports, victim blaming, lowered silencing.", targetingnd the email was highly inflammatory. the underlying incident which took place within the past few
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guard. thsubcommittee was also informed by whistleblowers that shortly after the email was shared, it started to disappear from coast guard members' from coast guard members' we were told by the coast guard that was done because it was "spam."■) i am at a loss for understanding how email alleging the mishandling of sexual assault and subsequent retaliation was classified as spam and deleted from email boxes. were you made aware? before was deleted? the allegations of sexual they were referred to the office of the chief prosecutor. we have stood up in office of the chief# prosecutor, consistet with ndaa language, we are requiring that for military services and we ma t to do that. the office of the chief prosecutor referred the case back to the leadership and it is
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still an on i don't have the details but it is still open. chair blumenthal: were you informed about the decision to delete it? adm. fagan: i was not -- the email, and you've seen it, ishid colorful.■v whether it triggered automatic spam, i don't know. allegations seriously and we are following through. chair blumenthal: have the number of ported cesent increased from 2022 to 2023? adm. fagan: the reports to the coast guard of sexual assault have been relatively steady. one sexual assault is one to■ many, we need to drive the number down.
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in 2023, the number ofor was 185 or 186.'ve been fairly , and that's not acceptable. the number needs to go down. chair blumenthal: what e can --? m.anyears previously. i will get you the number. here it is chair blumenthal: and what's the rate for 2024? are you going to exceed -- adm. fagan: i don't have t■yhe numbers in front of me but i can provide them to committee. how many we have had reported to this point. chair blumenthal: i hope you will. i will turn to senator johnson. first made aware of operation fouled anchor? 'fouled anchor' when i was intwi knew formally of it in the fall of 2018 when the leadership
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council was briefed in regard to the ongoing effort. it was still in the early stages when the brief was provided. n. email from the then director of the coast guard's investigative service you about someone in your command. kmy guess is over a five-year investigation you were , investigating individualting . i would think the knowledge that there was an investigation going ed, was fairly wellng what it known throughout the service? adm. fagan: i do not believe it was widely known. pacific area commander, one of the 05'under medium endurance cutter under my command was ready to interview him in conjunction with a fouled anchor case and i became involved totm temporarily relieve him and
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bring a relief co in. i do not know the details of the allegation against the individual. i was focused on keeping the ship operationally ready. sen. johnson: so it was more of an aberration with someone in command ofhe sanhe -- you had to be conrned about whether you had command? adm. fagan: it was part of the investigative process. we needed to make him available and i needed to make sure i had a commanding officer with clarity and operational intent and so we brought in a temporary forward with this individual. sen. johnson: but the coast guard has investigatory services, correct? sen. johnson: so why are you relying on the offices of the inspector general?ard investigative services did the investigations with regard to fouled anchor. when it was announced it would be subject to the office of inspector general, we are now relying on the office of inspector general. my directorwith the ig.
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i do have an obligation to continue to investigate new reports of sexual assault, particularly when they involve active duty members and we have got an excellenteconfliction continue to investigate sexual results if they reported. sen. johnson: have you been interviewed by the inspector general? adm. fan: i have not.: ok, but e relying on that inspector general to investigate the cover-up of operation fouled anchor?adm. fagan: the ig is log into fouled anchor. including senior leader action and i'm fully cooperating with that. sen. johnson: ok. i have no further questions. kns going to show up at 4:45. chair blumenthal: h' way but while we are waiting, i have additional questions.hor an
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was mahold it from congress, correct? adm. fagan: i knew of the fouled terms as early as fall 2018.ral chair blumenthal: but the specifics. adm. fagan: the full extent, number of victims, 20,000 hours become aware of that until we had the request from cnn. when i saw how expensive it was, it became apparent really quickly. i knew we needed to begin to move to report and commit to the committees. chair blumenthal: do you knowheo withhold it? again, the process we are going
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process, what was anwa the reality is it was not disclosed and that failed to create the opportunity for cot oversight. chair blumenthal: who was the commandant at the q -- the time? adm. fagan: my predecessor wasar view he made the decision tom. e meetings. i know what i was briefed in the fall of 2018.hen we clos, there was conversation around whether to disclose or not. then, you know i don't know. , chair blumenthal: there a a lot of people watching this hearing who would conclude that maybe you don't want to know. is that fair? adm. fagan: i am committed to transparency and accountability. i continue to work with the ig.
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i am -- believe that investigation will shed light into exactly -- chair blumenthal: but the ig investigation may never be disclosed. you don't know when it will be done. you do know that operation fouled anchor was withheld. it was concealed. to a cover-up. you didn't make the decision,2k you are not implicated, but now i submit very respectfully that you should want to know and that you have a right to know awell■i as a responsibility. going to work with the committee. you haven't made a commitment on disclosure of those "sensitive documents."
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is it your testimony you would not commit to mable to committe? adm. fagan: i have offered and there is an open commitm the committee for in-camera review and continue to work to chair blumenthal: you understand why in-camera review is completely unacceptable, do you not? adi continue to work with my lawyers, the office of■ general counsel, and will continue to be responsive to the mm any document is available to thr with regard to in-camera review. chair blumenthal: i'm told ley is not going to be coming. i have just a few more questions.■7+÷ you know i'm somewhat astonished , that you have not lo a shannon norenberg's submission
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to this committee. it is available to you. ■#you've read the on cnn about it, correct? adm. fagan: yes. chair blumenthal: i understand she may be here today. i don't know whether she's in the audience. evidently she is. thank you for being here. you described her earlier. do you have anything to say to shannon norenberg? adm. fagan: shannon was a great is an award-winning advocate for victims of sexual assault and remains committed to undetag in regard to the allegations that she has made and will work with the committee and others to create transparency and understanding[. chair blumenthal: but one of het requests to congress as well asr
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action. what action are you going to take in response to theo1 statements that she's made? adm. fagan: i am committed to full transparency with regard to the allegations. and will work with the third-party independent review. this is a matter that we can understand what was known when ■and bring clarity to the allegations. chair blumenthal: will you commit to make available the -- i'm quoting -- the deliberately wsexual and services from the survivors? through my enterprise victim advocate and others to ensure we don't have anyone out there that
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has not been able to avail themselves of veterans benefits and will take that back to ensure victims are receiving the support they are entitled to. chair blumenthal: will you commit to entering those reports of sexual assault in the dsa id? adm. fagan: in any case where they need to be entered because we have a victim, we will ensure th is happening. chair blumenthal: she says in a question to you, what actions aryo do right by these victims you have so horribly mis this official had sp for counseling and helping students at the academy that were victims and survivors of sexual assault.
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sh devoted her life and career to helping them. the sexu assltnator, the sarc, s position exists throughout the services. adm. fagan: no, she dinot. to the superintendent? adm. fagan: i will get back to with the che chain at the coast guard academy. chair blumenthal: do you know her personally? adm. fagan: i met her on oneeq■ occasion and i know her as being incredibly professional. chair blumenthal: will you read adm. fagan: i will read her statement. chair blumenthal: will you meet with h? as the administrative process s possible to meet with her. chair blumenthal: let me just ain, and i apologize for repeating and i mean this disrespect.
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i have a great deal of respect for th but you are in charge and meeting with shannon norenberg seems to be about basic de and wanting to know the truth. as i said before, what's required of the coast guard at this moment is an unsparing commitment to truth telling. ■lfollowing the facts and evidee wherever they lead, even if they are emba the coast guard or present members, and that is what serves the interests of the nation as well as the coast i am struck by the stories from whistleblowers. some of them are here today as well. how bravely they came forward.
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some after years of fearing retaliation and being abandoned and traumatized. the loss was not only to them of a career in coast guard. it was also a loss to the coast guard and the country. they were separated from the coast guard.3octances, the perpetrators continued in their. i want a commitment from you that the action that you are promising will be more than just words or rhetoric. that you will take whatever discipline or action that's appropriate as soon as possible against those perpetrators. fa'o creating accountability and taking action is the information
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comes forward. chair blumenthal: well, i want to thank you for being with us[y today. i don't know whether you have anything more you would likeo■f say. i think the victims and what you have to say to them. have you met with them? victims and again i am profoundly sorry for the pain and suffering they experienced as a result of sexual assault in my intent is to create a culture that is intolerant of assault,zp harassment, hazing, bullying, or i want to stop creating victims. 100% committed to fully supporting stand by them as they
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experienced the pain in assault. chair blumenthal: in order to fulfill the mission, i think this hearing and our investigation has shown many necessary. both in disclof0sing documents d other evidence and facts to the public and to this committee and taking stronger action against retaliation, to implementing all of those 33 recommendations. i will accept information when you have a numofy. i don't mean to tell you how to do your job. you are far more qualified than i am and i don'mean to sound presumptuous, but this committeé is investigating for a very immediate and urgent reason,
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which is that this problem is not one of the past. it is real and present, it is persistent and unacceptably prevalent and the evidence is not my voice. it's the voices and faces of whistleblowers. dozens of them who have come ■■ "forward not in the period 10 to 2006, but in 2024. i think they e evidence. in are in my view they are truly courageous and honorable people serving the coast guard and they should be every member of the coast guard deserves our thanks and appreciation and i express it whenever i encounter anyone
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our mility innormandy literallyo commemoration of d-day, the 80th anniversary, and spoke to veterans, walked through theames omaha beach where men gave their lives. they were kids. they were boys 17 and 18 years old who had never left their homes before. they jumped ofthe landing barge into eight feet of water under a hail of machine gun bullets and mortar fire. wave, 80% in the second wave. they had to run on omaha beach, long. military raised
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their right hand to perform those kind necessary. every member of thco does. and i immensely respect their continuing service. and what i want to see and i that is worthy of that service and sacrifice.at the coast guaro now i think is respond to what it has heard with real action as well as compassion and honesty. when a coast guard member of the academy or anyone in a fleet needs help, they should be given they make complaints. given the so we will be watching, we will be issuing a preliminary report.
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i hope that report will include the benefit of those documen that have been withheld and we are going to hold the record■u open for 15 days for submissionm the record from my colleagues and hope you will respond to them. thank you very much for that.ad. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions coright national cable satellite corp. 2024] md talking]
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