WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, accused the U.S. Coast Guard of illegally prohibiting sexual assault victims from sharing information with Congress about their assaults and investigations.
“Directing victims to agree not to discuss what happened to them is particularly reprehensible,” Cruz wrote in a letter Monday to Adm. Linda Fagan, commandant of the Coast Guard.
Cruz said illegal nondisclosure agreements were uncovered through his investigation as the top Republican on the Senate Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over the Coast Guard.
Cruz has previously pushed for changes to how the military handles sexual assault. Part of the impetus for that push was the murder of Army Spc. Vanessa Guillén, who was found slain after being reported missing from Fort Hood, now known as Fort Cavazos, in 2020.
In his letter, Cruz said that in 2014 the Coast Guard started a six-year investigation called “Operation Fouled Anchor” into allegations the Coast Guard Academy mishandled dozens of sexual assault reports from 1988 to 2006.
The resulting report concluded that the academy “did not adequately investigate allegations as serious criminal matters and hold perpetrators appropriately accountable.”
Cruz said it took another two and a half years for the Coast Guard to disclose Operation Fouled Anchor to Congress, however, and only after news media inquiries.
Cruz cites “internal documents” to say the Coast Guard was worried about…
