Click Here for Part I: “Aurora VA Is Pushing Veterans To Self-Harm”

Click Here for Part II: “The Aurora VA Is Currently Under Federal Investigation For Serving Expired Food”

 

For anyone who wasn’t gullible enough to believe the 2024 campaign promises made by Donald Trump regarding his treatment of American veterans, the turn of events I’m about to discuss really comes as no surprise.

He lied.

His actions—more specifically, the firing of the Inspector General (IG) over the VA in January of this year—have led to the potential for those he espoused to care the most about living in Colorado to experience a very direct, very negative health impact.

The investigation over the expired food being served at the Aurora VA (written about in Part II of this series) was killed, stopping the possibility of justice being served to those who openly put the lives of our nation’s heroes in jeopardy by serving unsafe products … all in the name of profit.

Well, this lack of justice is only half-true; more on that in a minute.

When I learned about the IG firing, I was just waiting for the official confirmation to arrive. And a few weeks ago, that information came in the form of an email from former Veterans Canteen Services (VCS) employee/whistleblower Ralph Robb stating that the VAOIG reached out letting him know the investigation was officially, and prematurely, closed.

Knowing there had to be more, I scheduled interviews with both him and two current employees about the happenings at the Aurora VA’s canteen since the prior two articles were published.

I have to admit, I was not expecting just how many people knew what was going on.

From multiple branches of the US Government to prominent GOP candidates, all the way up the food chain, I had to know …

 

Who Knew What?!—

In our last conversation, Robb told me about how he had reached out to multiple government whistleblowing organizations about the evidence he’d collected. And in each case, his pleas were ignored. Eventually, he got fed up with the constant silence and decided to take a more proactive approach.

Said Robb, “Over the summer of 2024, I contacted the US congressman over Aurora, Democratic House Representative Jason Crow, and set up a meeting with him. After being introduced, I was handed over to an office liaison who would be my primary contact going forward. The contact heard my story, gave the information to Crow, and then I was called back for a second meeting, as Crow was going to be my official congressional representative in a complaint to the Inspector General. But, I was never able to find out if he had anything to do with the official investigation being opened, as I have not heard from him in months.”

He continued, “For a few weeks after the paperwork was filed, me and the liaison sent emails back and forth with various updates on the case. Around this time, ‘Janet’ (from Part II) got sick from eating there and found out about my complaint. Immediately, they wanted to join it. So, we both sent their information over to my contact, and neither one of us heard anything back.”

Robb was furious. At this point, he felt the only option he had was “to make the food at the VA a campaign issue. It was 2024, and I know that veterans are always a talking point in any election. I sent an email to Crow’s Republican opponent, John Fabbricatore, explaining everything I’d gone through. He reached out to me, and we began discussing the best way to handle the information and get it to the largest amount of people possible. So, why not Donald Trump?”

Wait … what?

“John had a consulting firm that did business with Trump, and he let me know he could get the evidence and other information to Trump’s administration.”

Robb said that he confirmed with Fabbricatore in a subsequent phone call that Trump’s administration was aware of the food crimes happening at the Aurora VA. With that said, Robb made it abundantly clear that he “had NO IDEA” if Trump himself knew about the grotesqueries.

 

Um … Is That All?—

At this point, I thought the bad guys had won. When I told Robb this, he implored me to reach out to some of my contacts who still work at the VCS and ask them about some of the changes that have occurred since the news hit the public consciousness.

Under the promise of anonymity, due to fear of retribution, I discussed the new developments with two sources that have insider information on the intricate workings of the VCS.

Let’s call them “Hassan” and “Jerome.”

According to Hassan, since the release of the articles, “I got a lot of comments from staff about the articles, and overall, it has impacted sales.” They continued to explain that the canteen “has not been able to meet the gross profit margin numbers to make it sustainable.”

I also found that shortly after the investigation was announced, there was a surprise inspection. Though they weren’t there to witness every aspect of it, Hassan believed that because there was always something expired lurking about, they “Had no doubt that when they came in for the inspection, someone made a mad dash for the coolers and tossed everything that was out of date.”

I was able to confirm Hassan’s suspicions when Jerome witnessed one of their industrial-sized garbage cans filled with expired items like syrups from the coffee shop, among other items.

The pressure hit a boiling point, and everything came crashing down around the Chief of Canteen Operations, Forrest Hardy. Said Hassan, “I know he was very stressed out and he told us that he had to start taking blood pressure medication.”

For Hardy, the stress was only the beginning.

The final curtain dropped when he was both demoted and then reassigned to a VA hospital in Houston, Texas. Yet, whenever someone asked Hardy the reason for the demotion and reassignment, his answer would change depending on the person he was speaking to.

Hassan overheard Hardy “several times telling people that he chose to go back to Houston and that it was for health reasons.” But “Forrest personally told me that his last review was unsatisfactory because he doesn’t hold his assistant canteen managers accountable.”

No matter the reason, for Hardy, the chickens have come home to roost.

 

Is The Next Chief Looking Backward For The Future?—

Between Hardy’s last day in Aurora only having taken place within the last week or two, and the government keeping its stellar record of inefficiency intact by not having a replacement at the ready, I don’t know what the future holds for the food served at the canteen in the Aurora VA.

The investigation was never given the time to thoroughly examine whether the issues traversed the ladder completely and came from the top down. It’s for this reason, in conjunction with Assistant Chief Kimberly Grisby (and her “sniff tests”) still being the de facto leader for the foreseeable future, that I will never return to the Aurora VA.