Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) took the side of her colleague across the aisle, Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK), when questioned by CNN's Jake Tapper about predatory law firms targeting veterans who were sickened by toxic water on the Camp Lejeune military base.
"I also wanted to ask you about a tense moment from today's hearing involving your Republican colleague," said Tapper. "Here he is talking about capping contingency fees for Camp Lejeune attorneys who represented sick Marines and others."
"The attorney general of President Biden worked with me to put that 25 percent cap," said Sullivan in the clip. "My colleagues wouldn't do it. No, no, no, no. So it's a little rich when I hear everybody talking about taking care of veterans, and I spent a decade trying to get Democrats to help me, and they never did it."
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"What was your reaction to that?" asked Tapper.
"Well, I'm just as disgusted as he is that these predatory law firms that are taking advantage of veterans," said Duckworth, herself a disabled former Army lieutenant colonel who flew helicopters during the Iraq War. "Veterans should not have to pay anybody to file their VA claim. We have veteran service organizations that can do that. You have state veteran commissions that will do that. Veterans should not have to use a law firm. And in fact, these are very predatory law firms."
"There are also, by the way, fake veterans organizations," she continued. "We have, for example, a legitimate veteran organization, the Disabled American Veterans, which is a VSO, which can actually help you provide help you through the process of applying to the VA. But then you have the disabled, the American Disabled Veterans, which are fake organizations that, again, are predatory, prey on veterans. And what we need to do is let veterans know that you don't have to pay anybody for you to file your VA claim and get your VA benefits. Heck, come to my offices and I will help you do that."
"But absolutely, I agree with Senator Sullivan. We should be going after these predatory organizations that take advantage of veterans and their widows and widowers," she added.
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