Herschel Walker’s ties to veterans program face scrutiny

By BRIAN SLODYSKO and JEFF AMY
Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) — Herschel Walker boasts of his charity work helping members of the military who struggle with mental health. The football legend and leading Republican Senate candidate in Georgia says the outreach is done through a program he created, called Patriot Support. But court filings and company documents offer a more complicated picture. They show Walker did not found the program. It’s also not a charity. It’s an arm of a for-profit hospital chain. Court documents reveal the company has a checkered history treating veterans and reached a $122 million settlement after the Justice Department sued for improperly treating patients. The company denies the allegations. Walker’s campaign criticized the media for writing a story about the program.