The Air Force gave out the private military records of 11 Republican candidates to a Democrat opposition group during the midterms last year.
And it did so without requesting permission from the 11 Republicans or letting any of them know that their private records were being given to a Democrat opposition group.
UNACCEPTABLE: The Air Force gave the private military records of 11 Republican candidates — including sitting Members of Congress — to a Democrat opposition research firm. https://t.co/xYWeIomV2D
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) February 23, 2023
Here’s more via Politico (emphasis is mine):
Two former House GOP candidates say the Air Force alerted them this month that their military records were improperly released during the midterm campaign.
Sam Peters, a Republican who challenged Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) in November, and Kevin Dellicker, who fell short in the GOP primary race to take on Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pa.), both received Feb. 8 letters from the Air Force notifying them that Abraham Payton of Due Diligence Group made “multiple requests” for their military personnel records last year.
In both Peters and Dellicker’s cases, the Air Force identified Payton, a former research director for the Democratic group American Bridge, as having “inappropriately requested” copies of their records for “for the stated purpose of employment and benefits.”
Peters and Dellicker are the fourth and fifth known recipients of Air Force letters regarding the records releases, which have sparked an investigation by House Republicans. They are joining Reps. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) and Zach Nunn (R-Iowa) in seeking an additional investigation of any illegal activity that may have occurred surrounding the requests for their military records, a push first reported by POLITICO on Tuesday.
Specifically, the affected Republicans want to know what role, if any, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and their Democratic challengers played in receiving and using information that the Air Force improperly disclosed.
“Look, you sanction a hitman to kill somebody, you’re guilty of a crime. You sanction somebody to steal, you’re guilty of a crime,” Peters said in a phone interview on Wednesday. “And the DCCC needs to be [held to account], and I fully intend on making sure they are.”
The House Democratic campaign arm did not return a request for comment on whether it received and used materials provided by Due Diligence Group during the 2022 midterms. According to Federal Election Commission records, the DCCC paid Due Diligence just over $110,000 between January 2021 and December 2022.
The Air Force has identified 11 people in total as affected by the “unauthorized release of military duty information.” That number includes Bacon, Nunn, Peters, Dellicker and former House GOP candidate Jennifer-Ruth Green of Indiana.
Air Force spokesperson Ann Stefanek said the military branch launched an internal audit after POLITICO reported on Green’s records in October. Green has confirmed that her records were released to Due Diligence.
It’s true that the DCCC should be held account if they sanctioned the release of the records and used that data against these Republicans.
However I’m more worried that the fact that the Air Force released these records in the first place. Politico reports that Payton already had their social security numbers when he requested their records. But the Air Force was still supposed to get the signatures of all 11 Republicans before their records could be released.
We reported on this last year when it became public that the records of former House GOP candidate Jennifer-Ruth Green of Indiana had been released. The Air Force launched an investigation and even found the culprit who released the records. According to Politico that investigation has now been referred to the DOJ.
There really should be hell to pay for the person at the Air Force who released these records and anyone else who aided them. We’ll let you know when that happens.