ROBERT REYNOLDS, DAV CHIEF AND TOP VA OFFICIAL,

ROBERT REYNOLDS, DAV CHIEF AND TOP VA OFFICIAL, TAKES

HEAT FOR POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST -- VAOIG: "...

There existed a significant potential for Reynolds to 'run afoul of

the criminal conflict of interest laws and/or standards of conduct.'"




Robert Reynolds - National Commander DAV and
executive management officer for the
Veterans Benefits Administration



When Robert Reynolds was elected National Commander of the Disabled American Veterans (DAV)...I questioned some folks at DAV HQ about a potential conflict of interest.

My thought was that since the VA signs his paychecks, can he really serve the veterans of the DAV?

Well, the VA Office of Inspector General (VAOIG) took a different approach and looked at whether Reynolds could properly do his job at the VA when he also represented the veterans of the DAV.

Either way...it's a conflict of interest...and, it should NOT be allowed.

You can work for one or the other but not both. What's the old saying?...No man can serve two masters.

The VAOIG report is here...it makes for interesting reading...
http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/natio
n/documents/VeteransIGReport_061908.pdf

Story here... http://blog.washingtonpost.com/w
ashingtonpostinvestigations/2008/07/officials_p
olitical_ties_promp.html#more

Story below:



-------------------------



VA Official Scolded for Ties to Advocacy Group
"Washington Watchdogs," a periodic feature of the Post's Investigations blog, looks at the findings of the federal government's official investigators.



A top Department of Veterans Affairs official has been scolded by the government agency for his involvement with a prominent lobbying organization, a group that helps disabled veterans get benefits that the official is charged with dispersing.

The official, who is not named in the report, became a member of the organization, the Cold Spring, Ky.-based Disabled American Veterans, before he began working for the Veterans Affairs Department, he said. But audtiors said the situation is "fraught with possibilities for running afoul" of department ethics policies and he will have his activities "closely monitored" and be instructed on what "matters may require his recusal," according to a government audit obtained by Watchdogs this week through a Freedom of Information Act request.

The audit, while redacted, references Disabled American Veterans (DAV), which has 1.4 million members, on page five of the report. The organization's national commander, Robert T. Reynolds, serves as the executive management officer for the Veterans Benefits Administration in Washington, D.C.

A photo of Reynolds is prominently displayed on the organization's Web site. Reynolds was elected national commander during the organization's national convention in August 2006 in New Orleans.

Article continues below:




During his introductory speech, Reynolds "proclaimed the DAV the undisputed service organization for veterans and reaffirmed the organization's mission to build better lives for America's disabled veterans and their families through the finest advocacy and service programs in existence."

Reynolds, 42, a disabled veteran from Arlington, Va., served in the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division from 1984 to 1990. He was injured in a parachute accident while assigned to a U.S. Army Special Forces unit; the injury required two years years of multiple surgeries before he was honorably discharged.

Larry Scott, founder and editor of VA Watchdog, an online magazine that focuses on veterans issues, said top positions at so-called veterans services organizations are often reserved for government workers such as Reynolds.

"What we find is that people who are politically motivated, not partisan per se, but politcally motivated, use VSOs as a stepping stone to Washington," said Scott, referencing politicians like Gordon H. Mansfield, the deputy sectetary of Veterans Affairs and a Bush appointee who served as executive director of the Paralyzed Veterans of America.

A former executive director of DAV, the late Jesse Brown, served as secretary of Veterans Affairs in the Clinton administration.

Scott, who is also a member of DAV, said he asked members of the national disabled veterans organization about Reynolds' potential conflict of interest when the government worker was elected president of the disability organization nearly two years ago.

"They said that, 'We don't see him doing anything wrong. He's very careful,'" Scott said. "This is how things have been done. This how things will be done. This is the way business is done.'"

Reynolds, reached at his Washington office this morning, said he had yet to read the report as did David W. Gorman, executive director of DAV.

Investigators did not find specific examples of wrongdoing but Reynolds told auditors he "stood for both VA and DAV and that the missions were one and the same."

"He clearly could not distinguish between these two distinct organizations which, at times, have adversarial or opposing viewpoints," the audit said.


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How can an employee of the VA be the Chief Advocate for Disabled Veterans and there not be a conflict of interest? Who does he serve the veterans or the VA, this practice needs to stop, I don't care how long it has been going on. If men like this want appointments to Under Secretary positions go political and quit using veterans benefits and cases as their own personal footballs, we are the ones who appear to be paying for it, why else are there claims that have taken 40-60 years to be properly adjudicated.

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