The House Judiciary Committee and its Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government “are investigating the mass collection and dissemination of information about American citizens by federal agencies.
There is a focus on the unauthorized disclosure of U.S. military personnel records by the Air Force to an opposition research firm funded by Democrats.
Leading the probe are Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT), a former Air Force pilot. They both sent a letter on Thursday to the military’s top official asking for documents and communications.
“To advance our oversight and to inform potential legislative reforms, we write to request information about this serious breach of our servicemembers’ personal information,” the congressmen wrote.
The core issue is revelations that started last year when a profile of Indiana GOP House candidate Jennifer-Ruth Green was published. It revealed she had been sexually assaulted while in the military. She lost her race for the House and she told Fox News that the information used in the report was illegally obtained.
An Air Force audit found “there was an unauthorized release of military duty information on 11 individuals,” service spokeswoman Ann Stefanek told CNN in February.
Reps. Don Bacon (R-NE) and Zach Nunn (R-IA) said that their records were among those leaked between October 2021 and October 2022.
The USAF admitted that records of service members were wrongfully obtained. Maj. Gen. Troy Dunn, commander of the Air Force Personnel Center, wrote that Abraham Payton, identified as an analyst with a research firm called Due Diligence LLC, “inappropriately requested copies of your military personnel records for the stated purpose of employment and benefits.”
It was reported that Payton is a former research director for the Democratic political group American Bridge. The same report indicated that the Due Diligence Group, which claims to “specialize in using public records research to provide our clients with the knowledge and insights needed to drive strategic decision making,” received a little over $110,000 between January 2021 and December 2022 from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC).
The USAF, after admitting that records of service members were wrongfully obtained, just let me know that they will need until 3/17 to give us the information we requested. Today was the deadline. The USAF leaked information of USAF candidates in the 2022 midterms to a DEMOCRAT… https://t.co/toXBoPEojZ
— Anna Paulina Luna (@realannapaulina) February 27, 2023
