VA official quits in aftermath of data theft

A high-ranking official in the Veterans Affairs Department has submitted his resignation in the wake of the theft of personal data on millions of veterans from an employee's home.

According to an Associated Press report, Michael H. McLendon, VA's deputy assistant secretary for policy, said Tuesday he would leave his post on Friday.

"Words are inadequate to describe how I feel about these recent events and the impact on the band of brothers and sisters of service members and veterans that we are supposed to serve," McLendon wrote in a letter obtained by the AP.

"Given that this very serious and tragic event occurred on my watch and in my organization, I feel it necessary that I tender my resignation," stated the letter, which was submitted to the VA late Friday. "I would be modeling the wrong behavior to my staff and others in VA if I took no action to be responsible."

The theft of the data, which includes the names and birth dates of up to 26.5 million veterans, including about 100 spouses, occurred May 3 when the home of a VA data analyst was burglarized in what authorities believe was a routine break-in. Social Security numbers for some 19.6 million of those veterans were on the stolen property, as was information relating to employee disability compensation.

McLendon was appointed to his VA post in December 2003. According to a biography of him issued by the 2005 White House Conference on Aging (on whose advisory committee McLendon sat), he is the founder of McLendon & Associates, a management consulting and public policy firm with clients at all levels of government. Prior to joining VA, he worked on projects for the Defense Department, U.S. Agency for International Development, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, National Academy of Public Administration and other organizations.

Last week, VA Secretary James Nicholson accepted responsibility for the security breach and said the department is reviewing all positions requiring access to sensitive data. Once this is complete, employees granted access will undergo new security and background investigations.