Cronyism and bad judgment by the recently ousted head of personnel at the Department of Veterans Affairs led to the hiring of four top agency officials previously slammed for misconduct or poor performance at other federal agencies, according to documents obtained today by The Washington Examiner.

John Sepulveda gave preferential treatment when he hired his top advisors shortly after being confirmed as the VA’s assistant secretary for human resources and administration in May 2009, the report issued last year by the agency’s inspector general says.