The head of the federal National Guard Bureau says the investigation now underway into allegations of sexual assault and harassment within the Alaska National Guard should not be hidden away.
In response to questions from Sen. Lisa Murkowski at a congressional hearing this morning, General Frank Grass said investigators from the Bureau’s Office of Complex Investigations are on the case.
“What we’ve done at the request of the state is sent up an investigation team, about three weeks ago,” General Grass said. “We’re looking at a broad brush of complaints and we’ll do the analysis.”
“I’m free to come brief you in more detail on where we’re at on that and how much time it might take.”
Murkowski accepted the general’s offer but says the outcome of the investigation should be transparent to remove the cloud hanging over the Alaska National Guard. Gen. Grass agreed, although he said the report would go to the governor.
Some of the allegations date back as far as 2010.
Liz Ruskin is the Washington, D.C., correspondent at Alaska Public Media. Reach her atlruskin@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Lizhere.
