Just before the midterm elections last year, a GOP candidate improperly released his military records to opposition researchers. While seemingly innocuous, the leak of her documents revealed her as a survivor of military sexual abuse, forcing her to relive her trauma in public ahead of an election that was gathering momentum.
The story received a small blip in the mainstream media, and the reality of what happened was far worse than most of the public knew. Fortunately, Republican control of the House of Representatives means an investigation is underway, but it remains to be seen what the guilty parties will be.
So for those of you who haven’t heard of this story, especially fellow veterans, allow me to break this alarming situation down and explain more about our military and cutthroat political campaign climate.
Two Dem committees reportedly paid research group that obtained private information from Air Force records https://t.co/ytTzuGNHkj pic.twitter.com/RiaJaJ0w1s
— Conservative News (@BIZPACRreview) February 26, 2023
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Where is the #MeToo movement?
Last October, Politico revealed sealed information about then-Indiana GOP candidate Jennifer-Ruth Greene on a progressive candidate. This information Ms. The military outed Green as a survivor of sexual assault, forcing her to comment on a personal trauma in perhaps the most public way before she was ready to do so.
When Ms. Green came back about this egregious breach of her personal life and military records, Brad Dayspring, vice president of marketing and communications at Politico, said her records are “publicly available records that can be obtained with a standard FOIA request.” That’s not true, as personnel records of military members require a signed statement of permission from the service member in question. .
Spoiler alert, Ms. Green never gave permission, let alone had the opportunity to consent in the first place. Ms. As Green said of this violation of her rights, “It’s unacceptable to every vet, it’s unacceptable to every woman, and it’s unacceptable to anyone who has ever been a victim of sexual assault.”
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As you can imagine, the #MeToo movement has flooded social media and the streets to protest this attack on a fellow woman’s privacy and re-victimization. But wait a second, she’s a Republican, so her shock doesn’t matter.
‘Well, that investigation led to 11 cases of illegal handing over of military documents to political operatives for political purposes. The Air Force has not released the results of the investigation, but it has informed the people involved, including Congressman Don Bacon… https://t.co/UiTthacDw7
— 🇺🇸 MSQUARED🇺🇸 🗽 (@melissamiller33) February 24, 2023
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How did this happen?
So Ms. How did Greene’s documents end up in the hands of a reporter at Politico in the first place? He said he received it from someone who claimed to have obtained it through the appropriate FOIA requests.
And who is this master of information gathering? Abraham Peyton from Due Diligence Group, a firm that provides the following services, says on its website, “Whether you’re a political campaign, marketing firm, small business or Fortune 500 company, we leverage our expertise in FOIA (Freedom). Information Act) and local public record laws to get the knowledge you need.
It is important to note that Mr. Payton was at one point the research director of the Democratic Party’s largest opposition research group. Using his access to members’ Social Security numbers, though it is still unclear how he obtained them, he convinced the Air Force to release military personnel records.
Ms. The Air Force admits that “Air Force personnel did not follow proper procedures” regarding the release of Green’s records and those of 10 other veteran congressmen and candidates. However, he asserted that there was “no evidence of political motivation or malicious intent”.
This story is crazy. 3 key questions:
1) Air Force liability for “improper release” (leak) of sensitive documents
2) What is DCCC involvement – is it sanctioned by members?
3) Are the documents “publicly available?” Why did an outlet suggest that? https://t.co/1rXCtg0nTO— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) February 23, 2023
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Follow the money
Ms. In addition to Green, ten other veterans have had their records released without their knowledge, including then-candidates Sam Peters and Kevin Delliker, and Congressmen Jack Nunn and Congressman Don Bacon, let alone this due diligence group representative.
Congressman Nunn said, “The recent targeting of military records by members of Congress’s staff is not only a breach of sensitive data and a breach of the public trust by political hacks — it’s a crime.”
Come to think of it, a branch of the Defense Department released private military records without obtaining proper authorization from the veterans in question. All of us veterans who intend to trust an organization to which we have given so much of our lives, whether through malicious intent or gross incompetence, should worry.
But the deeper you dive, the more sticky this web of deception becomes. More than $110,000 from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and $173,000 from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) were paid to the due diligence group. One has to wonder if the DCCC and DSCC are paying this group to get this information to exploit the careers of experienced candidates.
I appreciate being held accountable for this despicable invasion of my privacy. Politics over progress is an unacceptable way to lead, and Hoosiers deserve a beating over this undesirable behavior. #BattleProvenLeadership https://t.co/tVGsLNbF87
— Jennifer-Ruth Green (@JenRuthGreen) February 22, 2023
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Lip service
Congressman Bacon describes the severity of this betrayal, “Knowing that this third party, paid by the Democratic Campaign Congressional Committee, was able to obtain my Social Security number and fraudulently use it to obtain my military records affects not only me and ten others but every veteran.”
In fact, to break it down, this situation highlights some of the following possibilities:
- DOD is incapable of protecting our information
- The DOD is politicized and willing to give up our information
- The Democratic Party is willing to pay for private, illegally obtained veterans information
Ms Green said of her military sexual assault, “After reporting my assault against the advice of my commanding officers, my career was deliberately derailed.” Many of us have faced this reality in our military careers, and reporting her assault seems to have derailed her campaign.
The Air Force says the employee who committed the act was disciplined according to “proper administrative procedures.” Those of us who have served know what that means, nothing.
The only acceptable and proper course of action is termination of employment, and I’ll bet dollars to donuts that doesn’t happen. But as usual, the Air Force has yet to say exactly what they did because transparency our government doesn’t believe in.
In the Politico piece on Ms. Green, an Air Force spokesperson said, “We are committed to building a culture of respect where sexual assault and harassment in any form is not tolerated, and we do this by supporting victims and prosecuting perpetrators. Uniform Code of Military Justice.” I would argue that your commitment to a culture of respect and supporting victims is lacking in how you blasted Ms. Green’s information without considering her rights.
I think it’s her own fault; She shouldn’t have reported it in the first place and was asking for it; After all, she is a Republican. Isn’t that right, #MeToo?
A letter to me from @usairforce It justifies what I’ve been saying all along. Congressman @RepMrvan And @DCCC An apology is due to the American people and especially to our veterans. https://t.co/hOhKxKn2XT
— Jennifer-Ruth Green (@JenRuthGreen) January 19, 2023
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