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Contact: Sarah Feldman (print) or Anamarie Rebori (broadcast) – 202-228-6263

Army National Guard Recruiting—McCaskill Statement on Department of Justice Indictment of Senior Guard Officials for Bribery

After grilling Guard leadership on wasteful and fraudulent spending in recruiting programs,

Senator ‘outraged’ by corruption in their office

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Financial & Contracting Oversight, today issued the following statement after the Justice Department’s announcement that it has indicted five current and former Army National Guard officials on charges of bribery regarding marketing and recruiting contracts, including those from the office charged with overseeing programs she earlier found to be rife with waste and fraud:

“This kind of betrayal of the public trust is outrageous, and dishonors the uniform of the brave members of the National Guard. We’ve already uncovered the wasteful spending of millions of taxpayer dollars on an ineffective NASCAR recruitment program that yielded zero recruits, and millions of dollars in fraud in the Guard’s Recruiting Assistance Program, but bribery by top Guard leadership who administered these programs should result in jail time, and I’m pleased the Justice Department has taken action to bring these corrupt officials to justice.”

In February, McCaskill led a hearing on reports of fraud in the Army National Guard’s Recruiting Assistance Program (RAP), which was administered by the Army National Guard’s former Strength Maintenance Division (ASM).  She found that RAP was a vehicle for massive fraud by Guard service members, with up to $100 million in potential fraud of taxpayer dollars, and more than a thousand people implicated. 

In May, McCaskill led a hearing on reports of waste and abuse in spending on sports-related marketing and sponsorships with organizations such as NASCAR and IndyCar, which was also administered by the same office under a different name. Following the hearing, McCaskill also sent a letter to Major General Judd Lyons, the Acting Director of the Army National Guard, pressing for answers on the Guard’s sponsorship and marketing contracts. In August, the National Guard announced a decision to curtail its spending on sports-related marketing and recruitment with organizations such as NASCAR and IndyCar.

Click HERE to read highlights of McCaskill’s fight for stronger accountability in Washington.

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