WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th June, 2019) The Pentagon's internal watchdog should investigate whether the White House concealed information about acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan's past that could have disqualified him for the post, Senator Richard Blumenthal said on Tuesday.
"There is absolutely no reason for the failure to disclose to the [Senate] Armed Services Committee as a part of our [confirmation] process that there was something in this nominee's past, Patrick Shanahan's past," Blumenthal told reporters. "There ought to be an investigation of that whole process."
Blumenthal added that the White House may have committed a "violation of criminal law" by lying to the Armed Services Committee. He called for the Defense Department's Inspector General to launch an investigation into the matter.
Earlier on Tuesday, Shanahan withdrew his nomination following published reports on a 2010 domestic violence incident involving him and his former wife.
