The unauthorized disclosure of at least eleven Air Force veterans’ records has spurred a Congressional investigation.
Due Diligence, a Democrat-funded opposition research organization, illegally obtained the records of several Air Force veterans between 2021 and 2023, violating the privacy of at least seven GOP candidates who were running for office in 2022. The organization received $172,000 from the Democrat Party in the same time period.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), chairman of the House Weaponization Committee, and former U.S. Air Force pilot Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT) sent a letter to U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall to inquire about documentation and communications surrounding the leaks.
“To advance our oversight and to inform potential legislative reforms, we write to request information about this serious breach of our service-members’ personal information,” the congressmen wrote.
Rep. Jordan tweeted:
The Air Force has notified at least two sitting House Republicans that it improperly released their personnel military records to an opposition research firm that received money from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
Weaponization of government?
Rep. Stewart tweeted:
My proudest years were spent defending our great nation in the Air Force.
It’s a shame to see this sacred branch of our government weaponized, but we will right this wrong.
@JudiciaryGOP will demand accountability to you, The People.
Among the veterans whose records were leaked was Jennifer-Ruth Green, a Republican House candidate and former Air Force officer.
Green was the victim of sexual assault while on active duty, yet kept it private from the public. The story was leaked to Politico in Fall 2022 and used by her Democrat opponent. Green stated that she felt her story would have been handled differently, and kept confidential, if she had been a Democrat.
On October 13, Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) wrote a letter to Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall and Chief of the National Guard Bureau General Daniel Hokanson, requesting information on how Green’s confidential records were made public.
Cotton wrote:
Absent the written consent of the service member, military performance evaluations appear to be protected by the Privacy Act and not releasable under the Freedom of Information Act. '…Without written consent/release, Air Force has no authority to release these documents.’
If that’s true, the release of Lt Col Green’s personnel records appears to be a grave violation of both Lt Col Green’s privacy and federal law.
Of additional concern is the appearance that the party responsible for releasing these Air Force documents may be exploiting private matters, including a sexual assault, for partisan purposes to interfere in the democratic process just weeks before an election.
Now, reports indicate that at least eleven Air Force veterans’ records have been leaked between 2021-2023, seven of which were GOP candidates in 2022.
Due Diligence, the opposition research organization, has stated that it was conducting public records requests as standard campaign research practice.
The Washington Examiner noted:
Abraham Payton, the background investigation analyst with Due Diligence Group who made the records requests, had the social security numbers of the candidates in question. According to the Air Force, Payton “represented himself as a background investigator seeking service records for employment purposes,” which was clearly a misrepresentation.
Former Colorado Senate GOP candidate Robert Bremer said that he was not notified of the unauthorized release, and found out from a Politico reporter who was seeking comment.
Bremer stated:
There's only two possible scenarios that this happened: One is that it's intentional and done for political purposes – and that's bad – or the other is that it was gross incompetence, which is bad. Neither scenario is good. Either one, the Air Force screwed up six ways to Sunday.
It's hard for me to believe that an enterprise that flies F-22s and runs the most cutting-edge weapon systems simply can't figure out how to reach a guy that's a public figure in a year and a half. …There's a lot of ways they could have reached me and that didn't happen.
Bremer added, "As of right now, I don't even know what records were released. I don't know if it was my medical. I'm hearing everything secondhand.”
Florida Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna (R) stated that she believes her records have been compromised as well.
Luna wrote:
As a member of the House Oversight Committee, and a USAF Veteran myself, I take the records leak very personally. Not only does my office have reason to believe my records were also leaked, a victim of sexual assault — Jennifer Ruth Green — was exploited for what? Politics.
This disgusting and abhorrent behavior will be dealt with. The Air Force has an obligation to protect the privacy and health information of all service members — regardless of their political party.
House Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Rogers (R-AL) and Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY) received a letter on March 17 from Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall detailing an audit that the branch conducted, as well as steps that they intended to take to ensure the privacy breach would not occur again.
“I want to assure you that we are taking this matter seriously,” wrote Kendall.
House Republicans are continuing to investigate the matter, and the Air Force is continuing a special investigation.
