The Department of Veterans Affairs is launching an investigation into the behavior of Lt. Robert Mueller, the VA criminal investigator in Phoenix, after reports surfaced that he pressured another investigator into making false statements to keep a patient unlawfully detained, The Daily Caller News Foundation has learned.
The investigation, opened by the VA’s Office of Security & Law Enforcement on Tuesday, follows on the heels of an internal police investigative report, in which investigator Liam Davis stated that Mueller told him to lie about the conduct of a patient in an incident on Nov. 4, 2013. On that day, a patient had left the Phoenix VA hospital, despite being on active medical hold. Once the patient was persuaded back to the hospital, Mueller instructed officers to place the patient under arrest, as he suspected possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia.
But apparently, upon questioning, it became clear that the clear glass pipe was actually dropped off by the patient’s mother to medical staff. She had found it and wasn’t sure what else to do with it. Nevertheless, the subject was later charged with disorderly conduct, in order to prolong the patient’s detention.
Davis denied that the patient ever made threats or was uncooperative with officers.
“The subject never became loud or argumentative,” Davis wrote. “The subject never cursed or failed to follow the instructions of officers.”
In the follow-up section of the document, Davis stated that the citation issued to the patient, who was detained, should be voided as a result. At the time of the incident, Davis protested both the citation and detention and noted that Mueller instructed him three times–in the presence of Davis’ supervisor and the department’s secretary–to include false statements. (RELATED: BREAKING: Police Corruption At Phoenix VA By Same Officer Who Raided Whistleblower’s Office)
But Mueller isn’t being investigated solely for his role in pressuring Davis to lie. Rather, the investigation also revolves around unresolved allegations that Mueller conducted an unlawful search of whistleblower and Chief Financial Officer Tonja Laney’s office and seized government and personal property.
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