The Latest: Lawmakers seek perjury inquiry over VA hospital

DENVER – The Latest on an investigation into the Denver veterans hospital (all times local):

5:10 p.m.

Two members of Congress say prosecutors should launch a perjury investigation of a former Veterans Affairs Department over his testimony about cost overruns at a Denver-area VA hospital.

Florida Rep. Jeff Miller, chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, and Republican Rep. Mike Coffman of Colorado said Wednesday the Justice Department should investigate Glenn Haggstrom’s statements to Congress in 2013 and 2014.

Haggstrom didn’t immediately return a telephone message seeking comment.

The VA’s internal watchdog released a report Wednesday saying Haggstrom knew the project was veering toward huge cost overruns but didn’t tell lawmakers that.

He was the department’s top official in charge of construction projects nationwide. He retired in 2015

The hospital under construction in suburban Aurora is expected to cost around $1.7 billion, nearly triple the 2014 estimate.

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3:52 p.m.

Federal investigators say “gross mismanagement,” delays and lax oversight by the Department of Veterans Affairs added hundreds of millions of dollars to the cost of a new Denver-area VA hospital and delayed it by years.

A report from the department’s internal watchdog released Wednesday also said a former senior VA official, Glenn Haggstrom, knew the project was veering toward huge cost overruns but didn’t tell lawmakers that when he testified before Congress in 2013 and 2014.

No phone number could be found for Haggstrom. He retired in 2015.

The report by the VA inspector general repeats some conclusions from earlier investigations but is the most scathing account of the project to date.

The hospital under construction in suburban Denver is expected to cost nearly $1.7 billion, nearly triple the 2014 estimate.