Senator Cruz Forces Linda Fagan to Cancel Illegal NDA’s USCGA Sexual Assault Victims Were Forced to Sign
Cruz v. Fagan
April 24, 2024
New York, NY
By: MLAA
As MLAA has previously reported, in a scathing letter sent to embattled Coast Guard leader Linda Fagan by Senator Ted Cruz regarding Cruz’s ongoing investigation into the Operation Fouled Anchor coverups, Senator Cruz accused the U.S. Coast Guard of illegally silencing and muzzling victims of sexual assault.
As CNN reported on April 8, 2024, Cruz accused the Coast Guard of forcing sexual assault them to sign illegal Non Disclosure Agreements:
The use of the agreements appeared to be part of a “years-long concerted effort to conceal information about rapes and other sexual assaults at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy from Congress and the public,” Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, a ranking member of a Congressional committee looking into the Coast Guard’s actions, wrote in a letter sent Sunday to Commandant Adm. Linda Fagan. “Requiring victims to agree not to discuss what happened to them is particularly reprehensible,” Cruz wrote.
Admiral Linda Fagan’s response to Cruz’s letter was to claim that the Coast Guard was not trying to silence the victims. Fagan claimed the Coast was trying to help the victims by forcing them to sign the illegal NDA’s. According to CNN:
The Coast Guard said in a statement Monday that the agreements it previously asked victims to sign were not intended to silence them, but to protect the integrity of the investigation and to ensure that the privacy of other victims and witnesses involved in the broader Fouled Anchor probe was also protected.”
Senator Cruz said in his letter that the act of forcing a government employee to sign an illegal NDA could be a felony. But less than 2 weeks after Cruz sent his letter to Fagan, the Coast Guard issued a public notice titled, “Understanding USCG non-disclosure agreements,” on the MyCG website.
The Notice states that “The Vice Commandant recently issued guidance to clarify that all members of the Coast Guard workforce have a right to make certain protected disclosures…” The Guidance was a Bulletin titled “ALCOAST 175/24,” which was titled, “Clarification Regarding the Whistleblower Protection and Non-Disclosure Policies, Forms, or Agreements.”
The full public Notice from the MyCg website is posted below:
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April 19, 2024
Understanding USCG non-disclosure agreements
By MyCG Staff
If you’ve ever been interviewed during a Coast Guard investigation, you may have been asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) or been advised that you shouldn’t discuss certain matters without prior approval. The Vice Commandant recently issued guidance to clarify that all members of the Coast Guard workforce have a right to make certain protected disclosures to:
Congress
An Inspector General
The Office of Special Counsel
Any person or organization in the member’s chain of command
Authorities responsible for investigating alleged violations
What does this mean?
Any NDA you may have signed does not override your whistleblower protections or your right to report waste, fraud, abuse of authority, and danger to public health or safety, even if the above rights were not specifically listed or provided. So, even if you have signed an NDA – or verbally agreed not to discuss certain sensitive or confidential matters – that agreement was not intended to and does not supersede applicable federal law or military policy.
Every NDA previously issued by CGIS or others within the Coast Guard should be understood to include the following language:
"These provisions are consistent with and do not supersede, conflict with, or otherwise alter the employee obligations, rights, or liabilities created by existing statute or Executive order relating to:
Classified information
Communications to Congress
The reporting to an Inspector General or the Office of Special Counsel of a violation of any law, rule, or regulation, or mismanagement, a gross waste of funds, an abuse of authority, or a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety,
Whistleblower protection.
The definitions, requirements, obligations, rights, sanctions, and liabilities created by controlling Executive orders and statutory provisions are incorporated into this agreement and are controlling.”
It is important to note that reporting evidence of waste, fraud, or abuse involving classified information or classified programs must continue to be made in accordance with the established rules and procedures designed to protect classified information.
Past and current members with questions about NDAs previously issued by CGIS can contact CGIS-Legal@uscg.mil. Any victims of criminal offenses who may have questions about their right to communicate with third parties about ongoing or previously conducted investigations are encouraged to contact the Coast Guard’s Enterprise Victim Advocate, Capt. Laura Collins.
For all general questions regarding NDAs or related laws and policies you may contact HQS-SMB-CG-LGL@uscg.mil.
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