In Light of New Documents, the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Presses the Coast Guard for Answers on the Academy's Mishandling of Sexual Assault Investigations

[WASHINGTON, DC] - U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) Chairman Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Ranking Member Ron Johnson (R-WI) wrote to Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Linda Fagan seeking additional information regarding the Coast Guard Academy's mishandling of sexual assault investigations after the Subcommittee obtained new documents from the Coast Guard related to Operation Fouled Anchor.

"These documents are troubling and raise new questions about the reasons for the Coast Guard's fall of 2018 decision not to brief Congress about Operation Fouled Anchor," wrote Blumenthal and Johnson in a letter to Coast Guard Commandment Linda Fagan. "According to the enclosed documents, the Coast Guard was concerned that, should Operation Fouled Anchor be made public, it would 'risk the initiation of comprehensive Congressional investigations, hearings, and media interest' and that '[t]he rates of sexual assault reporting have not appreciably changed, calling into question impact of Coast Guard actions taken over the past decade to change CGA climate/etc.'"

In September 2023, PSI opened a bipartisan inquiry into the Coast Guard Academy's mishandling of sexual assault investigations and its failure to reveal Operation Fouled Anchor, and its associated report, to Congress or the public. The full text of the Senators' original letter to the Coast Guard can be found here.

PSI held a hearingletter to the Coast Guard demanding compliance with the Subcommittee's inquiry.

The full text of today's letter can be found here and below.

February 14, 2024

VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL

The Honorable Admiral Linda Fagan

Commandant

U.S. Coast Guard

2703 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE

Washington, D.C. 20593

Dear Admiral Fagan:

The Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations ("PSI" or the "Subcommittee") initiated an inquiry in September 2023 into the mishandling of sexual assault and sexual harassment cases at the United States Coast Guard Academy ("CGA"), as well as the United States Coast Guard's (the "Coast Guard") failure to notify Congress regarding the conclusion of Operation Fouled Anchor.[1] On February 1, 2024, the Subcommittee received the enclosed documents, which appear to present Coast Guard leadership with several options on whether to inform Congress and the public about Operation Fouled Anchor during the fall of 2018.[2] At that time, the Coast Guard did not brief Congress or the public about Operation Fouled Anchor.

These documents are troubling and raise new questions about the reasons for the Coast Guard's fall of 2018 decision not to brief Congress about Operation Fouled Anchor. According to the enclosed documents, the Coast Guard was concerned that, should Operation Fouled Anchor be made public, it would "risk the initiation of comprehensive Congressional investigations, hearings, and media interest" and that "[t]he rates of sexual assault reporting have not appreciably changed, calling into question impact of Coast Guard actions taken over the past decade to change CGA climate/etc."[3] Additionally, handwritten notes on one document, which according to the Coast Guard were made by then-Vice Commandant Admiral Charles Ray, state, "Problem is one of the past... ."[4] Operation Fouled Anchor was only made public through press reports more than four years later, in the summer of 2023.[5]

Despite the Subcommittee informing the Coast Guard in a December 19, 2023 letter that all records requested by the Subcommittee should be produced without redactions, the Coast Guard continues to redact information, which prevents the Subcommittee from understanding the full scope of the Coast Guard's decisions.[6] The Subcommittee has also identified and requested missing email attachments from the few communications the Coast Guard has produced to date. One of those missing attachments appears to be an earlier draft of the Operation Fouled Anchor report that was shared among Coast Guard officials in March 2019-nearly ten months before the report was finalized.[7]

Additionally, to assist the Subcommittee in the continuation of its inquiry, please provide the following records and information no later than February 29, 2024:

1. All records[8] referring or relating to the enclosed documents, including but not limited to communications attaching the enclosed documents or otherwise referring to their development or dissemination;
2. A list of all individuals who created, edited, approved, or otherwise had input on any of the enclosed documents;
3. A list of all individuals who received or were informed about any of the enclosed documents;
4. A list of meetings, briefings, or other events where the enclosed documents were discussed or presented, including the names of all individuals in attendance; and
5. All of the missing email attachments the Subcommittee identified for the Coast Guard on January 19, 2024.[9]

In addition, please make available for in-person interviews during the week of March 4 to March 8 all personnel who were involved in preparing, drafting, or reviewing the enclosed documents, as well as all personnel who were briefed on or otherwise made aware of the existence of the enclosed documents in or around October 2018. If any of these individuals are no longer with the Coast Guard, please inform the Subcommittee of their name(s) and date(s) of separation no later than February 29, 2024.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

-30-

[1] Letter from Chair Richard Blumenthal and Ranking Member Ron Johnson, Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, to Admiral Linda Fagan, Commandant of the United States Coast Guard (Sept. 12, 2023); Letter from Chair Richard Blumenthal and Ranking Member Ron Johnson, Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, to Admiral Linda Fagan, Commandant of the United States Coast Guard (Dec. 19, 2023).

[2] See Enclosure.

[3] See Enclosure at 12-13.

[4] See Enclosure at 10; Email from Coast Guard Congressional Affairs to Subcommittee Staff, (Feb. 14, 2024).

[5]Former Coast Guard Head Covered up Secret Investigation into Sexual Assaults at the Coast Guard Academy, CNN, (Aug. 8, 2023) https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/08/politics/coast-guard-sexual-assault-coverup-invs/index.html.

[6] Letter from Chair Richard Blumenthal and Ranking Member Ron Johnson, Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, to Admiral Linda Fagan, Commandant of the United States Coast Guard (Dec. 19, 2023).

[7] The final Operation Fouled Anchor report was dated Jan. 31, 2020. Memorandum from Vice Admiral M. F. McAllister to Vice Commandant, subject: "Fouled Anchor" Investigation - Final Report (Jan. 31 2020), https://www.uscg.mil/Portals/0/documents/FOULED_ANCHOR_INVESTIGATION_FINAL_REPORT_AND_ENCLOSURE-508Compliant.pdf.

[8] "Records" include written, recorded, or graphic material of any kind, including letters, memoranda, reports, notes, electronic data (emails, email attachments, Signal, WhatsApp, or other encrypted messages, and any other electronically-created or stored information), calendar entries, inter-office communications, meeting minutes, phone/voice mail or recordings/records of verbal communications, and drafts (whether or not they resulted in final documents).

[9] Email from Subcommittee Staff to Coast Guard Congressional Affairs, Jan. 19, 2024 (on file with Subcommittee).