Lawmakers formally asked the U.S. Justice Department to investigate whether Veterans Affairs Department executives lied to Congress to conceal massive cost overruns at a Denver-area hospital, according to an article on the Yahoo News website.
"It is an absolute fact that numerous VA officials repeatedly misled Congress regarding cost overruns related to the replacement Denver VA medical center," committee chairman Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Florida, said.
The letter cites statements by VA executives during committee hearings in 2013 and 2014. They told the committee that no cost overruns were expected and that the project would be finished at or near its budget of about $604 million, according to transcribed excerpts from the committee.
The hospital is now expected to cost around $1.7 billion.