Coast Guard hid sexual assault probe from Senate for years, committee letter says

A yearslong U.S. Coast Guard investigation into decades of sexual assault and violence at the Coast Guard Academy went undisclosed to the Senate Commerce Committee until last week, according to a letter lawmakers sent Friday that calls the lack of disclosure “disturbing.”

The letter, signed by Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Senate Oceans, Fisheries, Climate Change and Manufacturing Chair Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), seeks more information to investigate if the agency "complied with the law and to inform potential legislative action."

The Coast Guard did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the letter, which was addressed to Coast Guard commanding officer Admiral Linda L. Fagan.

In an inquiry dubbed “Operation Fouled Anchor” from 2014 to 2020, the Coast Guard identified 62 substantiated incidents of rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment at the academy or by its cadets between 1988 and 2006, according to the letter. The agency did not disclose the investigation or its findings to the committee until a briefing last week, the letter said. The briefing occurred only after CNN made inquiries to the Coast Guard into the probe, according to a report the network published Friday.

The investigation identified 42 individuals against whom there may have been substantiated claims of rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment, yet the agency “neglected to pursue disciplinary measures” against “most” of them, the letter said.

Two officers the operation substantiated claims against were allowed to retire as commanders with full benefits, and both were confirmed by the Senate at least once during the probe with the agency failing to disclose they were under investigation, the letter said.

The operation revealed Coast Guard leaders “had knowledge of, and in some cases received formal or informal complaints or other disclosures of rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment, yet did nothing,” according to the letter.

“More disturbingly, some of these leaders discouraged survivors from filing formal complaints or otherwise disclosing their assaults,” the letter said.

Cantwell and Baldwin requested the Coast Guard provide the committee with all documentation related to the probe and answers to a list of questions by July 14.