DECEPTION

Pentagon ‘Misled’ Congress Over Rapes

Sex-assault data was inaccurate and vague.

Pentagon officials misled lawmakers about military sexual-assault investigations by providing vague or incorrect information, depicting civilian police as unwilling or unable to investigate offenders, the Associated Press reports. Many of the cases reportedly involved soldiers. According to the AP, internal government documents show that various prosecutors and law-enforcement agencies failed to charge service members who were punished in military court for the same sex crimes, but in many of those instances, the civilian officials’ actions were allegedly portrayed inaccurately or omitted entirely. The AP writes that in some cases, the accounts were so vague that they couldn’t be corroborated. Advocacy group Protect Our Defenders—which released the documents to the AP through a public information request—is expected to unveil a report Monday that contends the Pentagon misled Congress in order to reduce support for legislation that would change how sexual-assault allegations are handled in the military.