[Free Beacon] The law enforcement arm of the U.S. Postal Service says it has "no record" of anyone officially requesting Virginia Democrat Abigail Spanberger's official personnel file, despite the 2018 congressional candidate claiming a researcher working on behalf of her campaign submitted the request in December 2017.
Spanberger, an ex-CIA officer who is challenging incumbent Republican Rep. Dave Brat in Virginia's 7th District, and her allies have suggested that the improper release of her unredacted security clearance questionnaire from the USPS was part of a GOP-led effort to hurt her campaign, CNN reported Friday. Spanberger and her allies have also suggested that the United States Postal Inspection Service, where she worked prior to joining the CIA, mishandled her own campaign's request for the same information.
America Rising, a Republican research firm, obtained a copy of Spanberger's questionnaire from the USPS through a Freedom of Information Act request. The file included sensitive information, such as her social security number.
The Postal Service said that releasing Spanberger's file without her authorization was a mistake, calling it "human error."
Still, Spanberger's campaign and other Democrats insinuated that the release was politically motivated.
"There's no legal way they could have gotten this fully unredacted SF-86," Spanberger told the New York Times last month. "And the next question, what does it mean they are actually pushing it around? What do I have to hide? Absolutely nothing."
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