A third former House GOP candidate alerted to unapproved military records request

A Democratic-aligned firm made a failed attempt to obtain personal information from the Army National Guard on at least one House Republican candidate, according to a document obtained by POLITICO.

It’s the same firm that the Air Force has identified as securing the unauthorized release of multiple House GOP candidates’ records last year.

Abraham Payton of the research firm Due Diligence Group attempted in August to obtain the personnel records of Colin Schmitt — a GOP member of the New York state assembly — from the Army National Guard, according to a copy of the request form that Payton filed. Schmitt, who’s still an active National Guard sergeant, lost by less than 1.5 percentage points to Rep. Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.) in their November battle for New York’s 18th District.

The attempt to obtain Schmitt’s personnel file comes as House Republicans dig into a broader investigation of military records handling after Reps. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) and Zach Nunn (R-Iowa) revealed the “unauthorized release” of their Air Force records to Due Diligence last year. The firm’s pursuit of documents on GOP candidates from a separate military branch indicates that Due Diligence cast a wider net than previously known.

And Schmitt is pointing a finger directly at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for the attempt to obtain his personnel data. The House Democratic campaign arm paid Due Diligence just over $110,00 between January 2021 and December 2022, according to Federal Election Commission records.

“It appears that a coordinated campaign to target myself and other Congressional Republicans across the country who serve or have served our nation was for political gain,” Schmitt said in a statement, blaming the DCCC for “the illegal use of my social security number to attempt to gain access to my private military records.”

The Air Force said last month that an internal investigation it launched after POLITICO reported on former GOP candidate Jennifer-Ruth Green’s military records in October — when she was challenging Rep. Frank Mrvan (D-Ind.) in a battleground district — found that the private records of 11 individuals were improperly disclosed to a third party.

Air Force spokesperson Ann Stefanek has said that “virtually all” of the 11 unapproved releases were made to the same third party “who represented himself as a background investigator seeking service records for employment purposes.”

Payton, a former research director for the Democratic group American Bridge, sought Bacon’s personnel information, according to an official letter first reported by POLITICO. It is unclear if Payton was behind all of the 11 Air Force requests, however; Nunn has not publicly disclosed if Payton was the individual who sought his military personnel records, and Green has confirmed only that Due Diligence sought hers.

Due Diligence did not respond to requests for comment. Payton, whom POLITICO attempted to reach at an email address connected to the firm, did not respond to a request for comment. The DCCC did not respond to a request for comment.

In addition to Bacon, Nunn and Green, POLITICO first reported that Sam Peters, who challenged Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) in November, was notified of the improper release of his Air Force records. Another member of the group of 11 affected by the Air Force’s unapproved disclosures, Kevin Dellicker, fell short in last year’s GOP primary race to challenge Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pa.).

The other six individuals affected by the Air Force records releases are not publicly known. But the House Armed Services and Oversight Committees are jointly investigating the matter, and Armed Services Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) vowed to keep pushing following the revelation about the attempt to access Schmitt’s records.

"I have asked the Secretary of Defense to provide our Committee with information on this reprehensible incident,” Rogers said in a statement. “It’s unacceptable that the Department of Defense continues to delay answering our Committee on the egregious mishandling of military personnel records. I will fight for the answers our service members deserve.”

Payton indicated on the form requesting Schmitt’s records that he sought them for benefits and employment purposes. The form also indicates that Payton had Schmitt’s social security number at the time of his request.

While Payton sent his request to the New York Division of Military and Naval Affairs, Schmitt said in an interview that he’s seeking clarification about whether a separate attempt was made on the federal level or another possible separate channel to obtain National Guard records.

“I am thankful that the New York Army National Guard notified me of the attempt to illegally access my information and worked to protect me. I am working with counsel to continue to review if any additional attempts were made to illegally use my social security number and steal my private records to weaponize against me for political purposes,” Schmitt said.

According to a copy of the military records request Payton filed, he sought to obtain Schmitt’s “releasable/redacted copy of Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF)” in August of last year.

Payton sought the information for the stated purpose of “Benefits,” “Employment," and “Other,” to which he explained in the line below: “Services, awards, disciplinary history/records relevant to applicant’s qualifications for (potential) position’s duties, pay, and benefits.”

POLITICO was told by the person who gave it Green’s military records last year that they were obtained through a public records request. POLITICO reviewed the request for the records made by a third party, which sought a “publicly releasable/redacted copy of OMPF [Official Military Personnel File] per Freedom of Information Act statutes.” The requester identified the purpose of the request as relating to “benefits,” “employment” and “other.”

POLITICO also reviewed the letter sent in response to the requester. A military employee responded with a password-protected version of the file with limited redactions. After publication, the Air Force said it erred in releasing the records and launched an investigation.

Bacon said last month that Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall informed him that material from the Air Force’s internal investigation into the records releases was turned over to the Justice Department for possible further action. And Schmitt is joining all five GOP Air Force veterans in calling for a DOJ inquiry into whether political opposition research crossed into criminal activity.

“We’re aware of the concerns raised, and the Department of Justice has been communicating with the U.S. Air Force about this matter," a DOJ spokesperson in a statement Sunday.

The DOJ declined to comment on the status of any potential investigation into the matter.

Meanwhile, Rogers and Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) asked the Pentagon for the full list of people affected by improper records disclosures and whether any criminal referrals have taken place, setting a deadline of Feb. 27 that came and went, with no response.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy, when asked about the missed deadline, has previously stated that House Republicans will move to subpoenas if the Air Force does not comply with their inquiries and is weighing legislation on the matter. He did not offer further details on what such a bill would look like.

Schmitt, himself, says he is willing to cooperate with the House GOP.

“I have spoken with Congressman Don Bacon and have offered to fully participate” in Rogers and Comer’s inquiry “into these illegal acts,” said Schmitt.