Rep. Duckworth Slams IRS Contractor for Questionably Seeking VA Benefits from Prep School Injury (VIDEO)

Illinois Democratic Rep. Tammy Duckworth slammed an IRS contractor on Wednesday at a House oversight hearing on “questionable contracting practices at IRS.” She accused the contractor, Braulio Castillo, of seeking a veteran’s disability status to receive benefits from the VA’s Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business program.

Castillo allegedly twisted his ankle years ago during prep school and while he went on to play football during college, the debilitating injury apparently came back to haunt him, leaving him with a disability rating of 30 percent.

Duckworth, who is an Iraq War veteran and a double amputee, questioned the accuracy of this rating. “You know my right arm was essentially blown off and reattached. I spent a year in limb salvage with over a dozen surgeries over that time period and in fact we thought we would lose my arm and I am still in danger of possibly losing my arm. I can’t feel it. I can’t feel my three fingers. My disability rating for that arm is 20 percent,” she shared.

Duckworth also read a letter from Castillo to a government official describing the “considerable sacrifices” he and his family made for their country before she cut him off mid-sentence, reprimanded him and said, “Shame on you Mr. Castillo. Shame on you, you may not have broken any laws… but you certainly broke the trust of this great nation. You broke the trust of veterans… people like you who are gaming the system are adding to that backlog so that young men and women who are suffering from post-traumatic stress, who are missing limbs cannot get the compensation and the help that they need.”

She concluded by saying, “Twisting your ankle in prep school is not defending or serving this nation, Mr. Castillo.”

Check out the entire dialogue between the two.

[Daily Caller]