Subpoena Denied: Pentagon Pressured About Refusal To Let Sexual Assault Expert Testify

Pentagon Pressured About Refusal To Let Sexual Assault Expert Testify
By Andrew Tilghman - August 13, 2008 - http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/08/pentagon_pressured_about_refus.php


It's been a couple weeks since the Pentagon defied a Congressional subpoena and refused to let the military's chief sexual assault expert testify at a hearing about sexual assault in the military.

Lawmakers on the House oversight committee were definitely not happy about it at the time.

Now the committee is stepping up its pressure on the Department of Defense to let Dr. Kaye Whitley, the director of the department's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office, speak on Capitol Hill.

Yesteday, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) wrote a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates urging the department to comply with the Congressional subpoena issued for Whitley.

"We believe the Department's actions are completely without justification. The Department has provided no valid legal basis for its decision to prevent a witness from complying with a duly authorized congressional subpoena. ........

Now we're playing nice to get get the DoD to cough up witnesses? Just send the Master of Arms over to the puzzle palace and pick her up.