House GOP panel launches probe into Air Force’s ‘unauthorized’ record disclosures

The House Judiciary Committee is launching an investigation into the various unauthorized record disclosures the Air Force acknowledged it made last year, including known cases of the military branch releasing personnel records of GOP candidates to a Democratic-aligned group.

A GOP-led Judiciary subpanel investigating the politicization of the federal government announced Thursday it had launched a probe after the Air Force acknowledged that an internal investigation had concluded 11 individuals were affected by improper disclosures.

In a letter to Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah) and Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) sought additional information on the matter, including all records and communications related to the improper disclosures.

“In late February 2023, media reports highlighted how the OSAF improperly disclosed Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF) of 11 servicemembers without appropriate authorization or lawful consent. The [Office of the Secretary of the Air Force] reportedly released the personnel files of at least two Members of Congress to an opposition research firm that received money from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC),” they wrote.

“While the Air Force has rightfully taken responsibility for these inappropriate OMPF disclosures, questions remain unanswered about the U.S. Air Force’s collection, maintenance, and dissemination of this sensitive information,” their letter to Kendall continued.

Other panels, including the House Armed Services and Oversight committees, have sought details from the Pentagon on the disclosures.

POLITICO first reported that the Air Force had notified at least two sitting House Republicans — Reps. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) and Zach Nunn (R-Iowa) — that it had improperly released their personnel military records to a third party.

In the case of Bacon, a letter last month from the Air Force identified Abraham Payton of the Due Diligence Group, a research firm with Democratic ties, as “inappropriately” requesting and successfully obtaining these records.

Payton, according to the letter, said he was seeking the records for employment and benefit purposes, but the Air Force acknowledged such records were released without their authorization, which is protected under the Privacy Act of 1974. The letter noted that Payton was already in possession of the Nebraska Republican’s social security number when filling out the information request form.

Other GOP candidates from last cycle have shared that they were similarly notified by the Air Force that Payton, a former research director for the Democratic group American Bridge, was behind such requests for their records. They include Sam Peters, a Republican who challenged Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) in November, and Kevin Dellicker, who fell short in the GOP primary race to take on Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pa.).

Such efforts by Due Diligence Group included more than one military branch, with Payton attempting to get records on Colin Schmitt, who is currently serving in the New York National Guard and who challenged Rep. Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.) in the general election last cycle for the state’s 18th district, according to a copy of the request form.

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.”

It is unclear if Payton was behind all of the 11 Air Force requests. 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.

The other individuals affected by the Air Force records releases are not publicly known. But the House Armed Services and Oversight committees are also inquiring about the matter, with Armed Services Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) vowing last week to keep chasing down details of the disclosures.

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 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 research crossed into criminal activity.

The Justice Department has declined to comment on questions related to the existence or the status of a possible investigation into the unauthorized disclosures, but in a statement on Sunday, a DOJ spokesperson said they are “aware of the concerns raised” and that the department has been “communicating with the U.S. Air Force about this matter.”

Stewart and Jordan also asked for the Air Force to turn over requests made by DDG from the start of January 2021 to the present, all the notifications to affected servicemembers that their information was improperly impacted, documents related to its policies on record disclosure policies, and files on any internal investigations into the matter.

“My proudest years were spent defending our great nation in the Air Force. It’s a shame to see this sacred branch of our government weaponized, but we will right this wrong,” tweeted Stewart, a member of the Republican-led subcommittee, arguing that they will “demand accountability.”

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Macron invokes nuclear option to push through pensions reform in huge political setback

French President Emmanuel Macron bypassed parliament to get his flagship reform over the line, risking backlash from politicians and protesters that could wreck his presidency.

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DeSantis’ anti-woke law remains blocked in Florida colleges

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida remains unable to enforce the “Stop-WOKE” law touted by Gov. Ron DeSantis in light of a federal appeals court ruling Thursday that keeps the policies on hold for colleges and universities.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied a request from the DeSantis administration and higher education officials to block an injunction that determined the law restricting how race can be taught in schools was unconstitutional, ensuring that state officials are barred from carrying out the measure for now. While the groups that challenged the state are claiming victory over the ruling, DeSantis officials say the state will ultimately prevail once the case is heard.

“Professors must be able to discuss subjects like race and gender without hesitation or fear of state reprisal,” said the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, or FIRE, one group that sued over the legislation. “Any law that limits the free exchange of ideas in university classrooms should lose in both the court of law and the court of public opinion.”

Breaking it down: In a two-paragraph order, a three-judge panel of the appeals court denied the state’s request for a stay of the injunction from U.S. District Judge Mark Walker, who determined the anti-woke law is “positively dystopian.”

Florida’s Republican-led Legislature approved the legislation, FL HB 7 (22R), or the Individual Freedom Act, in 2022 to expand anti-discrimination laws to prohibit schools and companies from leveling guilt or blame to students and employees based on race or sex. Inspired by DeSantis, it takes aim at lessons over issues like “white privilege” by creating new protections for students and workers, including that a person should not be instructed to “feel guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress” due to their race, color, sex or national origin.

The law was challenged in several lawsuits, including one by FIRE and another by the ACLU, ACLU of Florida and Legal Defense Fund, both of which sued the state on behalf of students and educators. Despite the legal challenges, the DeSantis administration expects the policies to be found lawful.

“The Court did not rule on the merits of our appeal,” Bryan Griffin, press secretary for DeSantis, said in a statement. “The appeal is ongoing, and we remain confident that the law is constitutional.”

What’s next: There is no hearing currently scheduled in the case.

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Backlash hits Audubon after refusal to drop slave-holder's name

Three members of the National Audubon Society’s board of directors resigned Wednesday in response to the conservation group’s announcement that it will retain its current name tied to the enslaver and bird artist, John James Audubon.

The national conservation organization is facing an internal backlash after publicly announcing that its board of directors decided to keep its current name after a yearlong deliberation. The decision outraged employees, prompted an uncomfortable all-staff meeting and drove three board members to resign in protest.

Stephen Tan, a vice chair of Audubon’s board, and two other board members — Sara Fuentes and Erin Giese — resigned over the decision, according to a person who was informed about the resignations and was granted anonymity to discuss personnel moves that haven’t been publicly announced.

Tan, Fuentes and Giese did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Tan is a partner at the Seattle-based law firm Cascadia Law Group, Fuentes is vice president of government affairs for the nonprofit Transportation Institute, and Giese works at the University of Wisconsin, Green Bay’s Cofrin Center for Biodiversity, according to their profiles on Audubon’s website.

Tan was the leader of a task force commissioned by the Audubon board to consider whether to rename the group, according to the person who was informed about their resignations. Fuentes was a member of that task force.

Audubon Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Betty Su declined to say which three of the 26 board members resigned yesterday, citing “respect for board members who have not announced their decision publicly” in a statement.

“While the Board is disappointed to lose these Directors and the wisdom and dedication they brought to the Board, we respect their decision,” Susan Bell, the chair of the National Audubon Society’s board, said in a statement. “We also value tremendously the many diverse and reasoned perspectives that these Directors — and others — have brought to this difficult conversation for our organization.”

Some Audubon staffers, who had been waiting to hear about a decision about the group’s name, were frustrated to learn about the outcome from news reports prior to hearing from leadership. Audubon’s leadership alerted staff to the decision in a 9 a.m. email Wednesday, at the same time The Washington Post released a story including interviews with Audubon’s leaders.

Bell and Audubon CEO Elizabeth Gray hosted a tense all-staff Zoom meeting in the afternoon, where they defended the decision to keep the name and fielded questions from frustrated staffers.

“It was a rough all-staff,” said one Audubon employee who was granted anonymity to discuss the internal conversation. That person said the leadership began the meeting with statements that felt “pretty canned” before opening up the discussion to questions.

“There was no shortage of people questioning the rationale, questioning how Audubon can claim to be anti-racist while retaining the name of a white supremacist slave owner,” that employee said.

“It was jarring to hear the defense for this decision,” said Shyamlee Patel, an Audubon employee and member of the organization’s staff union.

Audubon announced this week that the board made its decision after an evaluation process that spanned more than a year and included input from more than 2,300 people from Audubon’s network and beyond. The organization said it commissioned “historical research that examined John James Audubon’s life, views, and how they did — and did not — reflect his time.”

Ultimately, the group’s leaders said, the board determined that keeping the name was the best way to fulfill its mission to protect birds and the places they need.

“Based on the critical threats to birds that Audubon must urgently address and the need to remain a non-partisan force for conservation, the Board determined that retaining the name would enable [the National Audubon Society] to direct key resources and focus towards enacting the organization’s mission,” the organization said in an explainer posted on its website.

“The Board’s decision enables the organization to focus its time, resources, and capacity on the organization’s new Strategic Plan and putting its equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging (EDIB) commitments into action,” the explainer said.

Also Wednesday, Audubon announced plans to devote $25 million over five years to fund equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging work both internally and through conservation programs.

Audubon has experienced turnover within its diversity office in recent years.

Andrés Villalon, resigned from the organization in December after leading Audubon’s office of equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging. Villalon wrote to colleagues in a farewell email that the organization at times failed to live up to its stated values.

“I want to know who is actually going to be in charge of spending that money and where does it go?” Patel said Thursday of the $25 million commitment. “I see this as honestly trying to buy us off.”

Audubon employees are also frustrated that the organization won’t release the data it compiled while making its decision to keep its current name.

Leadership wouldn’t answer questions during the all-staff call about how the information was considered, Patel said. “Did they weigh certain members more? I don’t know.”

“The Board will not be sharing the research, as they are less indicative without important context and knowledge that factored into the Board’s decision,” Bell said in a statement.

Staffers were also concerned that the Audubon board did not reach out directly to Audubon’s affinity group for Black employees prior to making its decision.

Bell said in a statement, “All Audubon staff members were invited to share their perspectives with the Board through a survey. Individual members of Audubon’s Executive Team were also invited to meet with the Task Force to represent the views of their teams and constituents — this included the head of the EDIB (Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging) team who presented EDIB perspectives.”

The announcement is taking a toll on morale in an organization that has already had a tumultuous few years, employees said.

“This makes my work harder,” said the employee who was granted anonymity. That person criticized the group’s leaders of “doubling down on being named after a racist slaveholder.”

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Big lenders to inject billions of dollars into embattled First Republic Bank

The biggest U.S. banks plan to inject as much as $30 billion into First Republic Bank in an effort to bolster the beleaguered San Francisco lender as concern about the financial system spreads, according to three bank executives with knowledge of the move.

Days after federal regulators backstopped uninsured accounts at two failed banks, at least eight of the country’s largest lenders are stepping in to offer First Republic funds, the executives said. One executive said the total infusion remained uncertain and could be announced either Thursday or Friday.

JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Citigroup are each expected to inject $5 billion, with other institutions providing smaller amounts. The executives said various drafts of an announcement continued to circulate on Thursday but that the arrangements were nearly finalized. The other banks are Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley, USBancorp, PNC Financial and Truist.

The injection of fresh capital is intended to buoy First Republic, the country’s 14th-largest bank by assets, after U.S. banks were rocked by the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. Fear of financial instability has ricocheted across Wall Street and among Washington policymakers amid speculation that more bank failures could come.

More than two-thirds of First Republic’s domestic deposits exceed the FDIC’s insurance limit of $250,000 per person, per bank. Investors’ uncertainty over the bank’s prospects prompted Fitch Ratings to downgrade its credit rating on Wednesday.

Nearly 94 percent of domestic deposits at Silicon Valley Bank were uninsured, as were almost 90 percent of Signature's, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.

A First Republic spokesperson said the bank had no comment.

President Joe Biden and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen have sought to assuage concerns about the system. “Our banking system remains sound,” Yellen told the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday. “Americans can feel confident that their deposits will be there when they need them.”

The rescue package announced Sunday for Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank guaranteed all the lenders' deposits, even for the uninsured. Separately, the Fed set up a facility to make cash loans available to all banks for up to a year in exchange for safe collateral, which would theoretically allow the lenders to handle deposit withdrawals of any amount.

The banking sector’s recent troubles have set off a frenzy of finger-pointing on Capitol Hill about the root cause. Republicans have gone after the Fed, whose aggressive rate hikes in the last year have diminished the value of the bonds and loans that banks hold on their balance sheets.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has blamed a bipartisan law passed in 2018 for loosening certain post-financial-crisis banking reforms. Many policymakers have pinned it on the banks’ management teams.

Shares in First Republic bounced on the news, ending a two-week-long slide that dropped the stock price by nearly 75 percent.

Sam Sutton contributed reporting.

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Newsom skips State of the State and heads out on a tour of California

Gov. Gavin Newsom is skipping the annual State of the State address and going on the road.

Fresh off an easy reelection, Newsom has decided to forego a formal speech at the state Capitol and will instead lay out his agenda with a round-the-state series of events starting Thursday in Sacramento.

“He’s not interested in the pomp of the State of the State speech,” said political adviser Sean Clegg. “He wants to get a spotlight on these issues he’s going to talk about rather than getting up there and doing the laundry list.”

Newsom will shine that spotlight as he rides political momentum into his second term. He overwhelmingly defeated an attempted recall in 2021 and then cruised to victory last November. Republicans who argue the governor has failed to allay pressing issues like homelessness and poverty have little power to impede his agenda in a Democrat-dominated Legislature.

The governor’s tour will traverse California. He will kick things off by highlighting housing construction efforts in Sacramento, an issue that is top of mind for many people in the state. From there he’ll journey to the notorious state prison at San Quentin— where officials dismantled the execution chamber four years ago on Newsom’s orders — to talk about his criminal justice plans. He’ll outline a public health plan in Los Angeles and conclude his weekend by proposing mental health policies in San Diego.

The decision to bypass his traditional speech doesn’t mean Newsom has ignored Sacramento’s political class. In January, he stood before the Capitol and delivered an inaugural speech to hundreds of lawmakers, interest group representatives, and constitutional officers, contrasting his progressive agenda with the policies of red-state rivals like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

This month he’s taking a different approach to “checking the box constitutionally,” senior communications adviser Anthony York said.

“We didn’t feel like there was a particularly loud clamor for another Gavin Newsom podium speech,” York said. “There are some times that, in Sacramento, talking to ourselves can feel a little cloistered, and things get lost. He likes the idea of going out into the state and talking to communities that are impacted.”

This isn’t the first time Newsom has broken the mold on required speeches. As mayor of San Francisco, he famously gave a seven-and-a-half-hour State of the City speech on his personal YouTube channel. He gave his 2021 State of the State address in cavernous Dodgers Stadium, seeking to mark California’s pandemic progress while acknowledging the loss of life with thousands of empty seats.

He does things differently in part because of a lifelong struggle with dyslexia. The learning disability makes reading speeches difficult — which is why Newsom loathes using a teleprompter, Clegg said.

“To this day you’ll never see me, including at a press conference today, ever read anything,” Newsom said on a February podcast with David Axelrod, “with one exception: those torturous exceptions where a teleprompter is required, and I will have to spend 100 hours on a one-hour speech just to feel comfortable with the words on the screen.”

Republicans are not impressed. They accuse Newsom of dodging accountability on crises like pervasive homelessness and high gas prices.

“The guy has nothing to tout, so it’s kind of amazing to me,” said Assembly Republican leader James Gallagher (R-Yuba City). “It just continues to show his disdain for the Legislature.”

But aides say Newsom has little desire to speak in that setting.

“He doesn’t love the idea of lecturing and standing before 120 legislators,” said political adviser Brian Brokaw. “That’s not really his comfort zone or his brand.”

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‘Ukraine doesn’t have any time to waste’: U.S. races to prepare Kyiv for spring offensive

The U.S. military is rushing equipment to the battlefield and training Ukrainian forces at a rapid pace, ahead of a major offensive against Russia expected by late spring.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin projected a sense of urgency on Wednesday after a virtual meeting of the multinational Ukraine Defense Contact Group, saying that “Ukraine doesn’t have any time to waste.”

“We have to deliver swiftly and fully on our promised commitments,” Austin said. “That includes delivering our armored capabilities to the battlefield and ensuring that Ukrainian soldiers get the training, spare parts and maintenance support that they need to use these new systems, as soon as possible.”

As spring approaches, U.S. officials are increasingly concerned about Ukraine’s dwindling supply of ammunition, air defenses and experienced soldiers. Moscow and Kyiv are continuing to throw bodies into the fight for a southeastern city the U.S. does not consider strategically important. But the Pentagon says that regardless of Kyiv's battlefield strategy, the U.S. wants Ukraine's soldiers to have the weapons they need to keep fighting.

Russia has spent months pummeling the country with missiles, seeking not only to cause destruction but also deplete Ukraine’s air defense stocks. Ukrainian soldiers have described acute shortages of basic ammunition, including mortar rounds and artillery shells. And upwards of 100,000 Ukrainian forces have died in the year-long war, U.S. officials estimate, including the most experienced soldiers.

Many of these losses are taking place in Bakhmut, where both sides are suffering massive casualties. Led by soldiers from the mercenary Wagner Group, Russia has laid siege to the southeastern city for nine months, reducing it to ruins. Ukrainian forces have refused to yield, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy insisting that defending Bakhmut is key to holding other eastern cities.

“The Russians clearly are wanting to press forward to the boundaries of Donetsk all of the way to the west, and to do that they need to get hold of Bakhmut and the road network that goes past it,” said Dara Massicot, senior policy researcher at the RAND Institute.

But Austin recently told reporters that Bakhmut is “more of a symbolic value than it is strategic and operational value.”

Instead, U.S. officials are more focused on getting Ukraine ready for a major spring offensive to retake territory, which they expect to begin by May. Hundreds of Western tanks and armored vehicles, including for the first time eight armored vehicles that can launch bridges and allow troops to cross rivers, are en route to Ukraine for the offensive. The U.S. and European partners are also flowing massive amounts of ammunition and 155mm shells, which Ukraine has identified as its most urgent need.

U.S. aid packages “going back four or five months have been geared toward what Ukraine needs for this counteroffensive,” said one U.S. official, who was granted anonymity due to the administration’s ground rules.

While U.S. officials are careful not to appear to tell Kyiv how to fight the war, Pentagon leaders said Wednesday that the equipment and training being provided will enable Ukraine to win the war — where and when it chooses to do so.

“There is a significant ongoing effort to build up the Ukrainian military in terms of equipment, munitions and training in a variety of countries in order to enable Ukraine to defend itself,” said Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Mark Milley.

“The increased Ukrainian capability will allow the Ukrainian leadership to develop and execute a variety of options in the future, to achieve their objectives and bring this war to a successful conclusion,” Milley said.

More than 600 Ukrainians in February completed a five-week training program in Germany that included basic skills such as marksmanship, along with medical training and instruction on combined arms maneuver with U.S.-made Bradley Fighting Vehicles and Stryker armored personnel carriers. Those forces are now back on the battlefield, and a second batch of hundreds of additional soldiers are now going through the program.

Behind closed doors, U.S. officials have been pressing Kyiv to conserve artillery shells and fire in a more targeted fashion. This is a particular concern in Bakhmut, where both sides are expending munitions at a rapid pace.

“Some in the Pentagon think that they are burning up ammunition too fast,” said retired Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, former commander of U.S. Army Forces Europe. “Excuse me, they're in a massive fight for the survival of their country against an enemy that has huge advantages in artillery ammunition and is not letting up.”

Kyiv has not yet settled on a strategy, U.S. officials said, but it has essentially two options: push south through Kherson into Crimea, or move east from its northern position and then south, cutting off the Russian land bridge. The first option is not realistic, officials said, as Russia has dug in its defenses on the east side of the Dnipro River, and Ukraine does not have the manpower for a successful amphibious operation against that kind of force. The second is more likely, officials say.

In addition to sending weapons and providing training, senior American generals hosted Ukrainian military officials in Wiesbaden, Germany this month for a set of tabletop exercises to help Kyiv wargame the next phase of the war.

President Joe Biden last month ruled out sending F-16 fighter jets, and senior U.S. officials have repeatedly said the aircrafts are not in the cards right now. But officials are working on other ways to boost the Ukrainian air force, including attempting to mount advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles on its Soviet-era MiG-29s, and assessing the skills of Ukrainian pilots.

Two Ukrainian pilots recently wrapped up an assessment at an Air National Guard base in Tucson, Arizona, for U.S. military instructors to assess what training they need to better employ the aircrafts and capabilities the West has already provided, including bombs, missiles and guidance kits. The program included simulator flights, but the pilots did not fly in American aircrafts, officials said.

An effort to mount AMRAAMs on the MiGs, if it proves successful, could also significantly increase the ability of Ukraine’s fighter pilots to take out Russian missiles, officials said.

As quickly as Ukraine is running out of munitions, Russia’s human and equipment losses are even more acute, forcing Moscow to appeal to rogue nations such as Iran for additional weapons.

“Russia remains isolated, their military stocks are rapidly depleting, the soldiers are demoralized, untrained unmotivated conscripts in convicts and their leadership is failing them,” Milley said.

Publicly, senior officials say it is up to Zelenskyy when and where to launch a new offensive, and whether to remain in Bakhmut or reposition his forces.

“President Zelensky is fighting this fight, and he will make the calls on what's important and what's not,” Austin said. But he noted that: “We're generating combat power, to a degree that we believe that it will provide them opportunities to change the dynamics on the battlefield, at some point going forward, whatever point that is.”

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