Top Court Rules for Due Process in Vet's Case

As the U.S. Dept of Veterans Affairs (DVA) has become infamous for its culture of denial of veterans' claims, a potentially landmark decision may signal an end to this bureaucratic phenomenon that has caused veterans' advocates to shake their heads in disbelief for decades.

Signaling a judicial mandate that U.S. governmental agencies follow the law, a top federal appellate court has ruled the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC) and the Dept of Veterans Affairs (DVA) violated the due process rights of a Vietnam War Marine veteran in wrongfully deciding his disability case.

The case, Cushman v. Shinseki (No. 08-7129), rules that this Marine veteran like other Americans is entitled to a fair hearing in administrative law courts such as the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC).

"The Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment guarantees that an individual will not be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. [U.S. Const. amend. V.] Due process of law has been interpreted to include notice and a fair opportunity to be heard," ruled the Court

The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit was created in 1982 and hears appeals from all over the U.S. including from numerous federal administrative courts such as the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC).

The case is described by Larry Scott of VA WatchDog as a "landmark decision ... which could impact hundreds of thousands of veterans."

The ruling is hailed by Philip Cushman, the Marine veteran who filed the complaint, in an e-mail to Larry Scott:

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, [has] recognized a PROPERTY RIGHT INTEREST in a VA claim, thus triggering the legal protections of DUE PROCESS OF LAW which mandates a FAIR and IMPARTIAL VA adjudication process. This [is] a HUGE victory for the [nearly] MILLION veterans now caught up in VA backlogged claims denial mill.

The Court decision concludes:

Mr. Cushman demonstrated that his injury meets the service connection requirement of [United States Code]. Mr. Cushman has a constitutional right to have his claim for veteran’s disability benefits decided according to fundamentally fair procedures. We find that this right was violated due to the presence of an improperly altered medical record in Mr. Cushman’s file. We vacate the June 6, 2008 decision of the Veterans Court and remand the case with instructions to grant Mr. Cushman a new hearing before the Board to determine de novo and without the presence of the alterations in his medical record whether Mr. Cushman was unable to secure a substantially gainful occupation between May 3, 1977 and August 31, 1994, because of his service-connected disability.

Veterans Court Orders VA Info in Jailed Vet Case

As Wisconsin Navy veteran Keith Roberts fights for his innocence in veterans’ court, the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC), a development in the case may signal a heightened scrutiny on allegations that the Dept of Veterans Affairs (DVA) bypassed laws and regulations to target Roberts in a coordinated hostile act.

Last week, the Court in Keith A. Roberts v. Eric K. Shinseki (05-2425) announced that it:

has determined that additional information from the [DVA] Secretary would be helpful to the Court's resolution of this appeal. The Secretary will describe the procedures, practices and polices used for severing service connection of protected ratings due to fraud in effect at the time of the August 2005 Board decision and the date those procedures, policies and practices were implemented. Additionally, the Secretary will provide the Court with any materials that support these procedures and any associated policies or practices, such as VA General Counsel Opinions, VA Manuals, Chairman of the Board Memoranda, VA Fast Letters, Directives, Circulars, or any training materials.

From July 29, 2009:

The Court is hearing the 13-years-long claim of Keith Roberts, an innocent Vietnam-era, Navy veteran wrongfully jailed through a George W. Bush DOJ prosecution after he was targeted by the U.S. Dept of Veterans Affairs (DVA) for “tenaciously pursuing a claim for benefits” and his whistle-blowing accusations that the VA was fraudulently altering his C-file.

The en banc (full) hearing before CAVC, the national veterans court, will consider issues raised by Roberts including the imperative of the DVA to follow administrative rules and protect veterans' due process, and the mandate of the DVA to avoid a general adversarial posture towards veterans.Roberts was convicted of wire fraud in 2007 after U.S. Atty Stephen Biskupic's office had convinced a jury that Roberts and a deceased Navy airman (Gary Holland)--who was crushed to death by a C-54 aircraft at an airbase in Naples, Italy--were not friends though the two men had parallel service histories.

Not being friends and exaggerating his efforts to rescue his fellow airman; this does not seem just cause for a prosecution.

Most any veteran would tell you when the airbase equivalent of a general quarters alarm sounds, any man or woman on line duty would not ignore the alarm as is the U.S. government's official position in this perhaps most ludicrous case in DVA history.

Reads Roberts CAVC brief:

Employees of the Department [DVA] have failed to follow the requirements of the laws and regulations mandated for fraud determinations relevant to veterans. The violations of due process in this case are too numerous to list. Because the conduct of the employees of the agency have been so extreme in this case, the remedy should be extraordinary. The Court should make clear that the requirements found in [U.S. Code and federal regulations] ... are mandatory, not advisory.

An affirmative decision by CAVC may affirm that the argument made by veterans in the class action law suit by veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars that the DVA must perform its Congressionally mandated function to serve veterans.

Roberts has been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) by several private and public medical professionals, but again this documented medical condition is insufficient to establish his innocence of fraudulently receiving benefits.

Contra the government's case, writes Scott Horton in Harpers Magazine (Sept 7, 2007), "The prosecution smacks of retaliation and a plan to suppress veterans claims—Roberts was prosecuted for tenaciously pursuing a claim for benefits, which VA resisted and which is still in the benefits review process."

On appeal, Roberts' criminal conviction for wire fraud was upheld last year with the Court opinion reading in part: "The record might also have supported a jury determination that Mr. Roberts sincerely believed that his statements were true and that he had no intention to defraud the Government. It is beyond our authority to disturb such a finding on appeal."

Writes James W. Ervin, stationed in Naples with Roberts, who supports Roberts' version of the circumstances in Italy that Roberts has for decades asserted was a Navy cover-up that resulted in a friend's death:

I was stationed @ NAF Naoles, Italy at the time of this 'incident,' July 1968 thru Nov.1969 . I also remember the young sailor be trapped / crushed up inside the wheel well (nose) of the aircraft inside the hangar of NAF naples, Italy. I do remember someone wanting to drive a forklift into the side of the aircraft; but an officer or someone of authority would not let them do that....so what they did was have men climb up into the plane & go to the rear of the plane to put weight in the rear of the plane to let the nose come up to release the trapped sailor. Unfortuately that process was too slow to save the sailor from death. I also remember taking photographs of the 'Pin' that was in the nose gear at the time. I remember it as being a homemade looking pin without a locking clip to keep it from being removed without unlocking the device. As for the names of the people involved , I don't remember ; but there definitely was someone there who wanted to use the foek lift to rescue the sailor from the collapsed nose wheel and was ordered NOT to use the fork lift.

But Ervin was not heard at trial so Roberts sits in prison.Roberts was an early whistle blower in the shreddergate veterans scandal, accusing the Milwaukee VA Regional Office of destroying documents in his file and engaging in fraud as the VA was in the process of determining the date from which his retroactive disability pay was to become effective.Roberts, of Gillett, Wisconsin, sought a new retroactive date per the advice of his Shawano County (Wisconsin) Veteran’s Service Officer.

Anger and frustration with the VA drove Keith Roberts to phone the VA Inspector General’s regional office at Hines, Illinois in November 2003 to complain.Roberts spoke with one VA Special Agent Raymond Vasil.

When he accused the VA of outright fraud in November 2003, Vasil retaliated against this Vietnam-era who had reportedly become a pain to the VA regional office.Several VA e-mails point to top officials in the VA engineering a criminal prosecution while gaming the veteran’s VA benefits adjudication, and subsequently putatively financially assaulting the veteran’s family. Roberts is but one victim of a stacked-against-the-veteran benefits system that was the subject of an that found as fact benefits-hostile practices at the VA.

Exercising an utter lack of prosecutorial discretion, the U.S. Atty after prodding from U.S. Dept of Veterans Affairs (VA) officials began the bizarre prosecution that drew immediate fire from veterans’ groups, such as Colonel Daniel K. Cedusky’s, AUS, (Ret.) and the American Legion.

Adding insult to injury, the VA also began immediate collection actions against the veteran and his two young daughters who had received education benefits related to their father’s service in the Navy, though Roberts' claim is still pending to this day at CAVC.

What prompted the U.S. Atty’s office was a puzzle to many readers who have followed the case of Roberts who has been serving 48 months in a federal prison since 2007, as well as incurring associated costs of some $500,000.

But Keith Roberts was indisputably a major political and legal target of the VA that retaliated against this veteran for seeking retroactive PTSD-related disability benefits and calling out the VA on altering his C-file, a practice that was found to occur in 41 of the 57 VA field offices which have now adopted new procedures to preserve records such as what Roberts complained about in November 2003.

Revealing the Alice-in-Wonderland nature of the case is the fact that if Roberts claim is affirmed by CAVC, Roberts will have been found guilty of receiving benefits which he was found to be entitled.

In August 2005, the DVA, taking its cue from the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) had announced plans to review 72,000 PTSD cases with a 100 percent disability ratings like Roberts’.But a torrent of criticism by veterans’ groups and Democrats forced the Bush administration to back down.

On August 10, 2005 then Sen. Barrack Obama (D-IL) blasted the administration in a letter to then VA Secretary Nicholson:

In order to truly create fairness in the claims system, the VA should concentrate its efforts on reviewing denials of PTSD claims. Without assessing why some PTSD claims are denied, it will be impossible to fully understand how the VA’s PTSD rating system can be improved.

The process of gathering evidence to prove PTSD disability is extremely time-consuming. It requires the compilation of medical records, military service records, and testimonies from other veterans who can attest to a person’s combat exposure. I cannot fathom why the VA would require veterans to go through this emotionally painful process a second time.

Roberts became a target. Now many veterans' advocates are optimistic that under President Obama a change will come in how the DVA treats its veterans in the face of a hostile and selfish entrenched bureaucracy. There is now a political will from the administration to respect veterans.

For now the DVA claims process can be so frustrating that many vets (especially those suffering from PTSD) are thrown into fits of rage directed at the DVA itself, with nothing less that a sordid history, including such scandals demeaning veterans for seeking help with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in this “culture of trauma.” The Pentagon at one point even blamed veterans “personality disorders” and lack of faith in God for veterans suffering after service.Concludes the Roberts brief filed at CAVC:

The Court should craft a remedy for Mr. Roberts which orders the Secretary to restore to the Appellant his full panoply of V.A. benefits Nunc Pro Tunc [now for then, meaning retroactive restoration dating back to a point prior to the DVA's crusade against Roberts] to November 1, 2004, regardless of 38 C.F.R. § 3.665. His daughters should have their educational benefits restored and all collection activity against the Appellant and his family should cease. Roberts will still languish in prison, but will have some vindication and hope for an early release based on the order of this Court.

See also:
- VA Document Contradicts US Atty in Jailed Vet Case
- Weakening US Criminal Case, VA Turns Down Jailed Wisc Vet’s PTSD claim
- Jailed Wisconsin Veteran Sent to Solitary Confinement, Seeks Help
- DVA Attacks Veteran
- National DVA Director Pushed US Atty Biskupic to Indict Wisconsin ...

Jailed Vet's Case Heard by Top Veterans Court

Update: Listen to Wisconsin Public Radio's Veteran fights for his innocence by Gil Halstad.

Today the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC) is hearing the 13-years-long claim of Keith Roberts, an innocent Vietnam-era, Navy veteran wrongfully jailed through a George W. Bush DOJ prosecution after he was targeted by the U.S. Dept of Veterans Affairs (DVA) for “tenaciously pursuing a claim for benefits” and his whistle-blowing accusations that the VA was fraudulently altering his C-file.

The en banc (full) hearing before CAVC, the national veterans court, will consider issues raised by Roberts including the imperative of the DVA to follow administrative rules and protect veterans' due process, and the mandate of the DVA to avoid a general adversarial posture towards veterans.

Roberts was convicted of wire fraud in 2007 after U.S. Atty Stephen Biskupic's office had convinced a jury that Roberts and a deceased Navy airman (Gary Holland)--who was crushed to death by a C-54 aircraft at an airbase in Naples, Italy--were not friends though the two men had parallel service histories. Not being friends and exaggerating his efforts to rescue his fellow airman; this does not seem: Just cause.

Most any veteran would tell you when the airbase equivalent of a general quarters alarm sounds, any man or woman on line duty would not ignore the alarm as is the U.S. government's official position in this perhaps most ludicrous case in DVA history.

Reads Roberts CAVC brief:

Employees of the Department [DVA] have failed to follow the requirements of the laws and regulations mandated for fraud determinations relevant to veterans. The violations of due process in this case are too numerous to list. Because the conduct of the employees of the agency have been so extreme in this case, the remedy should be extraordinary. The Court should make clear that the requirements found in [U.S. Code and federal regulations] ... are mandatory, not advisory.

An affirmative decision by CAVC may affirm that the argument made by veterans in the class action law suit by veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars that the DVA must perform its Congressionally mandated function to serve veterans.

Roberts has been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) by several private and public medical professionals, but again this documented medical condition is insufficient to establish his innocence of fraudulently receiving benefits.

Contra the government's case, writes Scott Horton in Harpers Magazine (Sept 7, 2007), "The prosecution smacks of retaliation and a plan to suppress veterans claims—Roberts was prosecuted for tenaciously pursuing a claim for benefits, which VA resisted and which is still in the benefits review process."

On appeal, Roberts' criminal conviction for wire fraud was upheld last year with the Court opinion reading in part:

The record might also have supported a jury determination that Mr. Roberts sincerely believed that his statements were true and that he had no intention to defraud the Government. It is beyond our authority to disturb such a finding on appeal.VA Shreds

Writes James W. Ervin, stationed in Naples with Roberts, who supports Roberts' version of the circumstances in Italy that Roberts has for decades asserted was a Navy cover-up that resulted in a friend's death:

I was stationed @ NAF Naoles, Italy at the time of this 'incident,' July 1968 thru Nov.1969 . I also remember the young sailor be trapped / crushed up inside the wheel well (nose) of the aircraft inside the hangar of NAF naples, Italy. I do remember someone wanting to drive a forklift into the side of the aircraft ; but an officer or someone of authority would not let them do that....so what they did was have men climb up into the plane & go to the rear of the plane to put weight in the rear of the plane to let the nose come up to release the trapped sailor. Unfortuately that process was too slow to save the sailor from death. I also remember taking photographs of the 'Pin' that was in the nose gear at the time. I remember it as being a homemade looking pin without a locking clip to keep it from being removed without unlocking the device. As for the names of the people involved , I don't remember ; but there definitely was someone there who wanted to use the foek lift to rescue the sailor from the collapsed nose wheel and was ordered NOT to use the fork lift.

But Ervin was not heard at trial so Roberts sits in prison.

Roberts was an early whistle blower in the shreddergate veterans scandal, accusing the Milwaukee VA Regional Office of destroying documents in his file and engaging in fraud as the VA was in the process of determining the date from which his retroactive disability pay was to become effective.

Roberts, of Gillett, Wisconsin, sought a new retroactive date per the advice of his Shawano County (Wisconsin) Veteran’s Service Officer.

Anger and frustration with the VA drove Keith Roberts to phone the VA Inspector General’s regional office at Hines, Illinois in November 2003 to complain.Roberts spoke with one VA Special Agent Raymond Vasil.

When he accused the VA of outright fraud in November 2003, Vasil retaliated against this Vietnam-era who had reportedly become a pain to the VA regional office.Several VA e-mails point to top officials in the VA engineering a criminal prosecution while gaming the veteran’s VA benefits adjudication, and subsequently putatively financially assaulting the veteran’s family.Roberts is but one victim of a stacked-against-the-veteran benefits system that was the subject of an that found as fact benefits-hostile practices at the VA.

Exercising an utter lack of prosecutorial discretion, the U.S. Atty after prodding from U.S. Dept of Veterans Affairs (VA) officials began the bizarre prosecution that drew immediate fire from veterans’ groups, such as Colonel Daniel K. Cedusky’s, AUS, (Ret.) and the American Legion.

Adding insult to injury, the VA also began immediate collection actions against the veteran and his two young daughters who had received education benefits related to their father’s service in the Navy, though Roberts' claim is still pending to this day at CAVC.What prompted the U.S. Atty’s office was a puzzle to many readers who have followed the case of Roberts who has been serving 48 months in a federal prison since 2007, as well as incurring associated costs of some $500,000.

But Keith Roberts was indisputably a major political and legal target of the VA that retaliated against this veteran for seeking retroactive PTSD-related disability benefits and calling out the VA on altering his C-file, a practice that was found to occur in 41 of the 57 VA field offices which have now adopted new procedures to preserve records such as what Roberts complained about in November 2003.

Revealing the Alice-in-Wonderland nature of the case is the fact that if Roberts claim is affirmed by CAVC, Roberts will have been found guilty of receiving benefits which he was found to be entitled.

In August 2005, the DVA, taking its cue from the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) had announced plans to review 72,000 PTSD cases with a 100 percent disability ratings like Roberts’.But a torrent of criticism by veterans’ groups and Democrats forced the Bush administration to back down. On August 10, 2005 then Sen. Barrack Obama (D-IL) blasted the administration in a letter to then VA Secretary Nicholson:

In order to truly create fairness in the claims system, the VA should concentrate its efforts on reviewing denials of PTSD claims. Without assessing why some PTSD claims are denied, it will be impossible to fully understand how the VA’s PTSD rating system can be improved.The process of gathering evidence to prove PTSD disability is extremely time-consuming. It requires the compilation of medical records, military service records, and testimonies from other veterans who can attest to a person’s combat exposure. I cannot fathom why the VA would require veterans to go through this emotionally painful process a second time.

Roberts became a target. Now many veterans' advocates are optimistic that under President Obama a change will come in how the DVA treats its veterans in the face of a hostile and selfish entrenched bureaucracy. There is now a political will from the administration to respect veterans.

For now the DVA claims process can be so frustrating that many vets (especially those suffering from PTSD) are thrown into fits of rage directed at the DVA itself, with nothing less that a sordid history, including such scandals demeaning veterans for seeking help with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in this “culture of trauma.” The Pentagon at one point even blamed veterans “personality disorders” and lack of faith in God for veterans suffering after service.

Concludes the Roberts brief filed at CAVC:

The Court should craft a remedy for Mr. Roberts which orders the Secretary to restore to the Appellant his full panoply of V.A. benefits Nunc Pro Tunc [now for then, meaning retroactive restoration dating back to a point prior to the DVA's crusade against Roberts] to November 1, 2004, regardless of 38 C.F.R. § 3.665. His daughters should have their educational benefits restored and all collection activity against the Appellant and his family should cease. Roberts will still languish in prison, but will have some vindication and hope for an early release based on the order of this Court.

See also:
- VA Document Contradicts US Atty in Jailed Vet Case
- Weakening us criminal case, VA turns down jailed Wisc vet’s PTSD claim
- Jailed Wisconsin Veteran Sent to Solitary Confinement, Seeks Help
- DVA Attacks Veteran
- National DVA Director Pushed US Atty Biskupic to Indict Wisconsin ...

Twenty Months into the Republican Recession

Update: President Obama: Halted free fall of economy, time to clean up and rebuild. The critical question is: Will we allow the GOP to stop Obama from reclaiming our country from the Republican catastrophe?

The thesis that the GOP rained ruin on the world is so overwhelmingly supported by the evidence that it is perverse to withhold our assent, to borrow from the late paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould. Next thing you know Obama will start telling us biological evolution actually occurred.

So we are now 20 months into the worst recession since the Great Depression.

But after eight years of the Bush administration that inherited the prospect of zero national debt and huge surpluses (can you imagine debating the prospect of zero national debt now), rising unemployment, a virtual hollowing out of our economy, a betrayal of our veterans, we are now six months into the Obama administration and everything is their fault, according to the GOP know-nothings

In December 2000, the Clinton administration announced projections that “the United States is on course to eliminate its public debt within the next decade.” But the national and state deficits across the nation and the unemployment in the states, that's the Democratic governors' fault, and the national debt Obama as mentioned did that too.

Here in Wisconsin, the GOP is back to its old playbook of stirring up white resentment on the economy and placing the blame for the last eight years of national economic catastrophe on one Wisconsin governor and Obama and minority constituencies, and anyone who is not making six figures and is not white.

Fortunately, as Dan Balz reportes in his recent For Republicans, the Forces Aren't With Them, and the future looks bright for a political message based on unity, civil rights and inclusion, geared especially to younger voters who are diverse demographically, less religious, culturally liberal, and less susceptible to GOP racist appeals. The screw-you economics of the GOP just won't play.

As the Democratic Strategist reminds us: "[I]f you're into polls, it pays to keep an eye on everyone's approval ratings, and on actual electoral matchups ... ." The GOP brand is shot and its heroes, Rush, Sarah Palin [and I do love that] and Newt are no where.

The American people know what the GOP did and its bloviating and constant repetition of lies just won't work.

Its star, Sarah Palin, epitomizes the Republican Party and smarter GOP writers know this ain't no good. From Peggy Noonan in the Wall Street Journal on Palin and the know-nothing Party:

In television interviews she was out of her depth in a shallow pool. She was limited in her ability to explain and defend her positions, and sometimes in knowing them. She couldn't say what she read because she didn't read anything. She was utterly unconcerned by all this and seemed in fact rather proud of it: It was evidence of her authenticity. ...

The era we face, that is soon upon us, will require a great deal from our leaders. They had better be sturdy. They will have to be gifted. There will be many who cannot, and should not, make the cut. Now is the time to look for those who can. And so the Republican Party should get serious, as serious as the age, because that is what a grown-up, responsible party—a party that deserves to lead—would do.

It's not a time to be frivolous, or to feel the temptation of resentment, or the temptation of thinking next year will be more or less like last year, and the assumptions of our childhoods will more or less reign in our future. It won't be that way.

Support Veterans Always

"They were careless people, Tom and Daisy. ... They smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made."

- F. Scott Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby (1925), condemning hubris and disrespect -

Were he alive today, Fitzgerald could be describing the Department of Justice and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) under George W. Bush. For that matter all the warmakers and chickenhawks who turn their backs on the people who fight these ridiculous wars.

Those two are for us to clean up now.

This Independence Day weekend is dedicated to jailed Wisconsin veteran Keith Roberts, and the Vietnam-era veterans that the American rightwing to this day treats like dirt.

Roberts is an honorably discharged Vietnam-era veteran jailed and effectively fined some $500,000 because he blew the whistle on fraud committed against his veteran's Claim File and insisted on getting his disability benefits paid back to his date of discharge.

Not a popular thing to do under the reckless Bush-led VA and the Bush DOJ that had morphed into hostile, uncaring creatures.

Now, cautious optimism defines the feeling among supporters of jailed veteran Keith Roberts.

Optimism because Keith Roberts—an innocent Vietnam-era veteran wrongfully jailed through a Bush DOJ prosecution—has been granted a rare en banc hearing before seven members of the national veterans court, the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC), for the appeal of his 13-years-long claim. Recently scheduled oral arguments are set for July 29.

Anxiety because Roberts, who was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after seeing his friend, Gary Holland, crushed to death by a C-54 aircraft, and his family were relentlessly pursued by the Bush Department of Justice and Dept of Veterans Affairs (VA) for Roberts’ “tenaciously pursuing a claim for benefits” and Roberts' whistle-blowing accusations that the VA was fraudulently altering his C-file, records containing documents related to his VA claims.

U.S. Atty Stephen Biskupic's office had convinced a jury that Roberts and a deceased Navy airman (Gary Holland) were not friends. That was the basis for the prosecution along with the allegation that Roberts exaggerated his efforts to save Holland, which constituted wire fraud for which he was convicted in November 2006 by a jury in northern Wisconsin.Roberts was on line duty at a Naval base in Naples, Italy on February 5, 1969 at the time that Holland was crushed to death by the aircraft.The two men had parallel service histories that would make it unlikely that Holland and Roberts were not at least friendly in their relationship, and that contradicts the prosecution’s indictment and trial statements.

Writes Scott Horton in Harpers Magazine (Sept 7, 2007):

The prosecution smacks of retaliation and a plan to suppress veterans claims—Roberts was prosecuted for tenaciously pursuing a claim for benefits, which VA resisted and which is still in the benefits review process.

On appeal, Roberts' criminal conviction for wire fraud was upheld last year with the Court opinion reading in part:

The record might also have supported a jury determination that Mr. Roberts sincerely believed that his statements were true and that he had no intention to defraud the Government. It is beyond our authority to disturb such a finding on appeal.

VA Shreds Veterans

Roberts was an early whistle blower in the shreddergate veterans scandal, accusing the Milwaukee VA Regional Office of destroying documents in his file and engaging in fraud as the VA was in the process of determining the date from which his retroactive disability pay was to become effective.Roberts, of Gillett, Wisconsin, sought a new retroactive date per the advice of his Shawano County (Wisconsin) Veteran’s Service Officer.

Anger and frustration with the VA drove Keith Roberts to phone the VA Inspector General’s regional office at Hines, Illinois in November 2003 to complain.

Roberts spoke with one VA Special Agent Raymond Vasil.When he accused the VA of outright fraud in November 2003, Vasil retaliated against this Vietnam-era who had reportedly become a pain to the VA regional office.Several VA e-mails point to top officials in the VA engineering a criminal prosecution while gaming the veteran’s VA benefits adjudication, and subsequently putatively financially assaulting the veteran’s family.

Roberts is but one victim of a stacked-against-the-veteran benefits system that was the subject of an unprecedented class action law suit by veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars that found as fact benefits-hostile practices at the VA.Exercising an utter lack of prosecutorial discretion, the U.S. Atty after prodding from U.S. Dept of Veterans Affairs (VA) officials began the bizarre prosecution that drew immediate fire from veterans’ groups, such as Colonel Daniel K. Cedusky’s, AUS, (Ret.) and the American Legion.

Adding insult to injury, the VA also began immediate collection actions against the veteran and his two young daughters who had received education benefits related to their father’s service in the Navy, though Roberts' claim is still pending to this day at CAVC.What prompted the U.S. Atty’s office was a puzzle to many readers who have followed the case of Roberts who has been serving 48 months in a federal prison since 2007, as well as incurring associated costs of some $500,000.

But Keith Roberts was indisputably a major political and legal target of the VA that retaliated against this veteran for seeking retroactive PTSD-related disability benefits and calling out the VA on altering his C-file, a practice that was found to occur in 41 of the 57 VA field offices which have now adopted new procedures to preserve records such as what Roberts complained about in November 2003.

Politicalization under Bush

Revealing the Alice-in-Wonderland nature of the case is the fact that if Roberts claim is affirmed by CAVC, Roberts will have been found guilty of receiving benefits which he was found to be entitled.

In August 2005, the VA announced plans to review 72,000 PTSD cases with a 100 percent disability ratings like Roberts’.

But a torrent of criticism by veterans’ groups and Democrats forced the Bush administration to back down.

On August 10, 2005 Sen. Barrack Obama (D-IL) blasted the administration in a letter to then VA Secretary Nicholson.

In order to truly create fairness in the claims system, the VA should concentrate its efforts on reviewing denials of PTSD claims. Without assessing why some PTSD claims are denied, it will be impossible to fully understand how the VA’s PTSD rating system can be improved.

The process of gathering evidence to prove PTSD disability is extremely time-consuming. It requires the compilation of medical records, military service records, and testimonies from other veterans who can attest to a person’s combat exposure. I cannot fathom why the VA would require veterans to go through this emotionally painful process a second time.

Now many veterans' advocates are optimistic that under President Obama a change will come in how the VA treats its veterans in the face of a hostile and selfish entrenched bureaucracy.

There is now a political will from the administration to respect veterans.

There are plenty of candidates for condemnation in this affair where the environment persists that agencies of the U.S. government usurped by the Bush administration lacking in conscience and public accountability, politicized virtually every agency in sight, including former U.S. Atty Biskupic’s office.

- Special Agent Raymond Vasil of the regional VA Inspector General’s office [“A cop Vasil is not, just an idiot with a badge,” said one veteran assisting Roberts] who lied to and vocally mocked Roberts while flying around the country fabricating a case against Roberts.

- The VA benefits process that systemically wears down veterans with the apparent intention of inducing them to give up their fight for benefits [this process is being adjudicated in the unprecedented class action suit by veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan.] In fact, the VA claims process can be so frustrating that many vets (especially those suffering from PTSD) are thrown into fits of rage directed at the VA itself.

- The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) that demeans veterans for seeking help with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in this “culture of trauma”·

- The Pentagon that blames veterans “personality disorders” and lack of faith in God for veterans suffering after service.

But veterans advocates and Roberts' many supporters remain optimistic.

See also:

- Weakening us criminal case, VA turns down jailed Wisc vet’s PTSD claim
- Jailed Wisconsin Veteran Sent to Solitary Confinement, Seeks Help
- VA attacks veteran
- National VA Director Pushed US Atty Biskupic to Indict Wisconsin ...

Rare Hearing for VA Claim by Jailed Wisconsin Veteran

Cautious optimism defines the feeling among supporters of jailed veteran Keith Roberts.

Optimism because Keith Roberts—an innocent Vietnam-era veteran wrongfully jailed through a Bush DOJ prosecution—has been granted a rare en banc hearing before seven members of the national veterans court, the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC), for the appeal of his 12-years-long claim.

Anxiety because Roberts, who was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after seeing his friend, Gary Holland, crushed to death by a C-54 aircraft, and his family were relentlessly pursued by the Bush Department of Justice and Dept of Veterans Affairs (VA) for Roberts’ “tenaciously pursuing a claim for benefits” and Roberts' whistle-blowing accusations that the VA was fraudulently altering his C-file, records containing documents related to his VA claims.

U.S. Atty Stephen Biskupic's office had convinced a jury that Roberts and a deceased Navy airman (Gary Holland) were not friends. That was the basis for the prosecution along with the allegation that Roberts exaggerated his efforts to save Holland, which constituted wire fraud for which he was convicted in November 2006 by a jury in northern Wisconsin.

Roberts was on line duty at a Naval base in Naples, Italy on February 5, 1969 at the time that Holland was crushed to death by the aircraft.

The two men had parallel service histories that would make it unlikely that Holland and Roberts were not at least friendly in their relationship, and that contradicts the prosecution’s indictment and trial statements.

Writes Scott Horton in Harpers Magazine (Sept 7, 2007):

The prosecution smacks of retaliation and a plan to suppress veterans claims—Roberts was prosecuted for tenaciously pursuing a claim for benefits, which VA resisted and which is still in the benefits review process.

On appeal, Roberts' criminal conviction for wire fraud was upheld last year with the Court opinion reading in part:

The record might also have supported a jury determination that Mr. Roberts sincerely believed that his statements were true and that he had no intention to defraud the Government. It is beyond our authority to disturb such a finding on appeal.

VA Shreds Veterans

Roberts was an early whistle blower in the shreddergate veterans scandal, accusing the Milwaukee VA Regional Office of destroying documents in his file and engaging in fraud as the VA was in the process of determining the date from which his retroactive disability pay was to become effective.

Roberts, of Gillett, Wisconsin, sought a new retroactive date per the advice of his Shawano County (Wisconsin) Veteran’s Service Officer.

Anger and frustration with the VA drove Keith Roberts to phone the VA Inspector General’s regional office at Hines, Illinois in November 2003 to complain.

Roberts spoke with one VA Special Agent Raymond Vasil.

When he accused the VA of outright fraud in November 2003, Vasil retaliated against this Vietnam-era who had reportedly become a pain to the VA regional office.

Several VA e-mails point to top officials in the VA engineering a criminal prosecution while gaming the veteran’s VA benefits adjudication, and subsequently putatively financially assaulting the veteran’s family.

Roberts is but one victim of a stacked-against-the-veteran benefits system that was the subject of an unprecedented class action law suit by veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars that found as fact benefits-hostile practices at the VA.

Exercising an utter lack of prosecutorial discretion, the U.S. Atty after prodding from U.S. Dept of Veterans Affairs (VA) officials began the bizarre prosecution that drew immediate fire from veterans’ groups, such as Colonel Daniel K. Cedusky’s, AUS, (Ret.) and the American Legion.

Adding insult to injury, the VA also began collection actions against the veteran and his two young daughters who had received education benefits related to their father’s service in the Navy, though Roberts' claim is still pending to this day at CAVC.

What prompted the U.S. Atty’s office was a puzzle to many readers who have followed the case of Roberts who has been serving 48 months in a federal prison since 2007, as well as incurring associated costs of some $500,000.

But Keith Roberts was indisputably a major political and legal target of the VA that retaliated against this veteran for seeking retroactive PTSD-related disability benefits and calling out the VA on altering his C-file, a practice that was found to occur in 41 of the 57 VA field offices which have now adopted new procedures to preserve records such as what Roberts complained about in November 2003.

Politicalization under Bush

Revealing the Alice-in-Wonderland nature of the case is the fact that if Roberts claim is affirmed by CAVC, Roberts will have been found guilty of receiving benefits to which he was found to be entitled.

In August 2005, the VA announced plans to review 72,000 PTSD cases with a 100 percent disability ratings like Roberts’.

But a torrent of criticism by veterans’ groups and Democrats forced the Bush administration to back down.

On August 10, 2005 Sen. Barrack Obama (D-IL) blasted the administration in a letter to then VA Secretary Nicholson

In order to truly create fairness in the claims system, the VA should concentrate its efforts on reviewing denials of PTSD claims. Without assessing why some PTSD claims are denied, it will be impossible to fully understand how the VA’s PTSD rating system can be improved.

The process of gathering evidence to prove PTSD disability is extremely time-consuming. It requires the compilation of medical records, military service records, and testimonies from other veterans who can attest to a person’s combat exposure. I cannot fathom why the VA would require veterans to go through this emotionally painful process a second time.

Now many veterans' advocates are optimistic that under President Obama a change will come in how the VA treats its veterans in the face of a hostile and selfish entrenched bureaucracy.

There is now a political will from the administration to respect veterans.

There are plenty of candidates for condemnation in this affair where the environment persists that agencies of the U.S. government usurped by the Bush administration lacking in conscience and public accountability, politicized virtually every agency in sight, including former U.S. Atty Biskupic’s office.

- Special Agent Raymond Vasil of the regional VA Inspector General’s office [“A cop Vasil is not, just an idiot with a badge,” said one veteran assisting Roberts] who lied to and vocally mocked Roberts while flying around the country fabricating a case against Roberts.

- The VA benefits process that systemically wears down veterans with the apparent intention of inducing them to give up their fight for benefits [this process is being adjudicated in the unprecedented class action suit by veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan.] In fact, the VA claims process can be so frustrating that many vets (especially those suffering from PTSD) are thrown into fits of rage directed at the VA itself.

- The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) that demeans veterans for seeking help with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in this “culture of trauma”·

- The Pentagon that blames veterans “personality disorders” and lack of faith in God for veterans suffering after service.

But veterans advocates and Roberts' many supporters remain optimistic.

See also:

- Weakening us criminal case, VA turns down jailed Wisc vet’s PTSD claim
- Jailed Wisconsin Veteran Sent to Solitary Confinement, Seeks Help
- VA attacks veteran
- National VA Director Pushed US Atty Biskupic to Indict Wisconsin ...