The Senate has moved to prevent the Marine Corps from retaliating against a whistleblower.
Two senators on Thursday warned Marine Corps Commandant James Conway not to retaliate against a civilian adviser whose internal study criticized delays by the military branch in procuring new armored vehicles.
Franz Gayl criticized the Marines in a Jan. 22 report for delaying the purchase of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles despite urgent requests from troops in the field. That report, first disclosed Feb. 15, said Conway was misled by Marine bureaucrats into providing "misleading" information about whether and when troops in Iraq made urgent requests for MRAPs in a letter to two senators last year.
In a letter obtained by USA TODAY, Sens. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., told Conway that he seemed focused on whether Gayl overstepped his authority rather than protecting him from retribution.
"Your statement today that the Marines Corps is investigating whether Mr. Gayl 'has done something other than what his leadership and his bosses have instructed him to do' clearly implies that the Marine Corps may be proceeding inappropriately to punish Mr. Gayl for his actions," the senators wrote.
