This is chilling. The U.S. Air Force illegally released military records of several GOP candidates to the Democratic Party which then leveraged the material to run attack ads on at least one of them: @JRMajewski https://t.co/HMLbhf4zjY
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) March 22, 2023
During the 2022 campaign cycle, the Air Force released military records of seven Republican congressional candidates to a research firm aligned with the Democratic party, without authorization.
The Air Force revealed in a letter to House Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) and Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) that an audit by its personnel center found that the records of nine individuals were released to Due Diligence Group between 2021 and 2023.
Of these disclosures, seven affected GOP candidates for office in 2022, including J.R. Majewski, an Ohio candidate known for his support of MAGA, and Robert “Eli” Bremer, who lost in the GOP primary race to challenge Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) last year. Reps. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) and Zach Nunn (R-Iowa), both Air Force veterans, were also among those whose records were released and have called for an investigation into the legality of the requests for their records.
As well as Bacon and Nunn, the previously reported GOP Air Force veterans whose records were released are Jennifer-Ruth Green, an Indiana candidate; Sam Peters, who took on Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) in November, and Kevin Dellicker, who challenged Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pa.).
The Air Force launched an internal audit of disclosures by its personnel center after POLITICO reported on Green’s records in October. POLITICO was told by the person who gave it Green’s military records that they were obtained through a public records request. More here.