Publish the contents of the FOIA request so we can see who made the request. If it is a phony name, track down the perpetrator.
7
Republicans are getting increasingly desperate, particularly Trump supporters, who are well on their way to becoming a dying minority in this country. President Trump denies security clearances to a former CIA Director he doesn't like for purely political reasons, and is cheered on by members of his party. Now a Republican PAC affiliated with Paul Ryan has released the highly sensitive personnel records of a Democratic candidate who once worked for the CIA in a bid to save a threatened Congressional seat in Virginia. In our increasingly tribal political climate, many Republicans have apparently lost their way, and have traded in their past principles for empty slogans and unethical behavior in the battle for the one thing they really care about: retaining power. Such people are not deserving of the vote of any true American.
12
Anyone who has had a security clearance would know how sensitive the information in it is. Social Security number, present and past addresses, family and even more - names of references, for example.
If it is true that this PAC obtained a copy of the form, it must be destroyed, and the path by which the form was obtained must be closed. This is a threat to everyone who has ever had a clearance.
5
A spokesman for Mr. Ryan, Jeremy Adler, said, “We cannot speak to the activity or behavior of outside groups.”
This is EXACTLY why Citizens United needs to be overturned....all it does is provide plausible deniability to scum like Ryan.
9
Are the GOP capable of winning elections WITHOUT cheating?
7
The public has every right to transparent information about the service, pay and performance of government employees.
There is a significant exception for intelligence officers whose activities are secret and shielded from law for what should be obvious reasons. Otherwise, we must just stop the spying that gives our national security leaders insight into foreign machinations attempting to undercut our global security and influence.
But there is no right for the public to know the most private health and family information that must be provided for a security clearance. I just hope the victim here has the financial means to push this through the courts to get an injunction on the use of this data.
4
Can the Times needs tell us the stakes? Is it leaked Social Security numbers, or the names of other CIA personnel we should worry about?
Meanwhile, we can send her campaign some $$, so she can fight fire with fire.
3
Why isn't the GOP calling for an investigation on this type of leak? This is exactly the sort of thing that would discourage many people from ever running for office. It's how you lose the chance to get well qualified people to run for office. Not everything needs to be revealed.
11
That PAC, journalist, and individual are lawyering up ... The FBI is certainly busy these days investigating ...
1
I'm writing a check to Ms. Spanberger's campaign.
17
Me too. Right now.
3
Nixon faced impeachment and was forced out of office for this same sort of behavior. Where are the patriotic Republicans now?
They're all mute, unless they've already stated their intentions to step down from their gravy train jobs and begin cashing in their chips as lobbyists.
12
The GOP are experts at dirty tricks. No one called Nixon “Tricky Dick” for nothing, although the sobriquet applies to his entire career. The Republicans do dirty, that is what they do, period.
8
A commenter writes:
"The super PAC is lying. Those forms and information are not releasable through FOIA."
I hope this is so. If it is, the wrongdoers should be promptly identified and severely punished. If what this commenter writes is NOT true, it should be, and Congress should promptly amend the FOIA to make it true.
2
@MyThreeCents
You could look it up. It might take a bit of work.
1
It is not illegal to be a Muslim in the US...yet. she can teach at any school she wants to. Teaching is an honorable profession. The Reps are trying to make being of the Muslim faith and knowing people of the Muslim faith nefarious and anti-American.
The Reps like to accuse the Dems of identity politics. Yet, they are always the ones to raise the issue forcing the Dems to defend a position that should never have been an issue in the first place. The Republicans have resisted any attempt to ensure equal treatment for all people under the law.
17
If she starts wearing a niqab or burka and chanting "Allahu Akbar" while the national anthem plays before NFL games then I'd be concerned about her politics and her electoral chances.
But teaching in a Saudi funded school on US soil seems a stretch, especially for a future CIA officer.
I'm currently reading Stephen Brill's book "Tailspin" and I'm on the chapter that describes how US politics became so polarized. Very little surprises me any more, not even someone leaking a "federal security clearance application" for political gain.
5
For a long time Americans have been accepting that it is OK to violate all kinds of boundaries in order to pound their political opponents. "Both sides do it," is the argument we hear from jaded voters.
Maybe it is time to put a stop to this. Don't vote for anyone for Congress unless you've met and approved the candidates in person. Go to their town halls and other meet and greet events, like house parties, and make your own, up front and in person assessments of their characters. Stop relying on second-hand information or rumors from your friends on Facebook. Get out of the house and go to political events.
This year, Democratic candidates are out in force, knocking on doors, canvassing in person, attending house parties, and meeting ordinary Americans in person. Let Republicans stick to their PACs and their big money-donors, their TV ads, their dirty tricks and their public smearing of rivals.
Turn away from their circus and get back to real life, like the grassroots Democrats are doing now.
56
Following their leader, the GOP will stop at nothing to keep power, enact tax cuts for billionaires, gut all regulations, and destroy our democracy—including breaking laws and committing treason. And why not—their sitting president and his felonious crew are getting away with it.
10
This leak puts Spanberger's family at risk...way beyond shameful. Hope the counterintel people sink their teeth deep into this compromise.
8
Folks, keep in mind as well that this was an IB school, which means it was internationally certified and part of a well regarded international program!
The xenophobia — and depravity — of the Republican Party knows no bounds!
11
Cheat, lie and deny, the motto of the Republican Party.
7
Scooter Libby exposed Valerie Plame as a covert CIA agent......to "punish" her husband Ambassador Wilson for exposing "fraudulent intelligence" by the Bush-Cheney government,....to justify the Iraq war.......this was treasonous as it exposed Ms Plames, covert informants, to fatal danger
Bush commuted Libbys sentence and Trump recently granted a full pardon.
Making public Ms Spanbergers CIA affiliation and peronnel application is no less treasonous than what Bush-Cheney did through Scooter Libby.
Obviously, the Republican Party has leadership that condones and is willing to betray American secrets and security to stay in power........as.the current Republican leadership protects the POTUS ,clearly entangled with Putin and Russian intelligence to violate American election law and rights of US citizens to freely and fairly elect their president !
9
Make no mistake- republicans are the enemy, ALL OF THEM.
7
How disgusting can the McConnell/Ryan party get??
They are propping up an illegitimate president so let’s all do something to protect our Republic and vote in November to restore balance!
4
The party that always refers to themselves as “patriots” with their American flag lapel pins once again throwing a true patriot under the bus for political gain. But then again it was “so unfair” to convict Scooter Libby
7
What a bunch of Anti-America clowns the GOP has become. They are a disgrace!
6
It either is, or it should be. Not right away, of course -- tomorrow morning will be soon enough:
"This is a breach of a very serious law."
2
Trump was instrumental in providing over $100B of military aid to an Islamic country. So, how bad can teaching a class at an Islamic school be?
6
Although I see the CIA as an unethical instrument of U.S. hegemony that has subverted foreign governments and done other nefarious things, the Republican tactic of attacking CIA agents is totally unacceptable.
If Cheney, Libby and the others involved in outing Valerie Plame had been imprisoned for it, maybe this current situation wouldn't have happened.
The fact that Spanberger worked for a Saudi Islamist school shouldn't trouble the GOP. After all, Trump personally visited Saudi Arabia and embraced them as allies, and our military-industrial complex assists that radical Islamist state in terrible wars and other bad actions.
2
The super PAC is lying. Those forms and information are not releasable through FOIA. Any knowledgeable reporter can tell you that there are established exceptions to what FOIA allows to be released.
5
That's not the point:
"She worked at the Islamic Saudi Academy for two years from 2003-2005 under her maiden name, Davis, yet never divulged this to the press. So much for her proclaimed 'integrity.'"
I have no idea what this woman has told the CIA (I'd never even heard of her before this article appeared), but that's between her and the CIA. I'm flabbergasted to learn that CIA security applications are just given out, as this one apparently was. Even if one doesn't care about this woman, and wouldn't mind if his or her personal information was just given out like this, what about national security? Isn't there a serious risk posed to national security if someone can get access to CIA agents' security applications?
If this hadn't actually happened, I'd never believe it was possible. Obviously it is. Some heads should roll, and all necessary steps should be taken, immediately, so that nothing like this ever happens again.
2
I don't think so:
"So Ms. Spanberger taught at the Islamic Saudi Academy? Is this cause for concern?"
I've met many people over the years, of all political stripes, who've lived and taught in Saudi Arabia -- including my own uncle, who was a career Army officer and certainly no supporter of the Saudis.
The Saudis are known for paying very well. That's why someone goes to work for them. Period. I don't hold that against this woman at all.
More important, this woman's past is between her and the CIA. Neither I nor anyone else should be allowed access to her personal information unless we have a clear "need to know," and we don't.
7
I don't think the recipient's motive matters:
"... the fact that the information was shared with a political party to influence an election in the Republican's favor is alarming."
What's "alarming" is that someone other than the CIA got this woman's personal information. The CIA needs it, but nobody else does. Giving it out is bad for her, and bad for the CIA. If it was illegal, the lawbreakers should be identified, convicted and imprisoned for a very long time. If it wasn't illegal, both houses of Congress, and the President, should drop everything else they're doing and amend US law to make it illegal.
4
I find everything the republicans do is reprehensible.They have for a long time cheated their way to winning.To date the Russian interference in the 2016 election is the worst but Bush's 2000 win, with the help of his brother as Fla.Gov.comes pretty close.Can we ever forget hanging chads and the Supreme Court deciding a presidential election??I have considered it the first serious blow to our democracy.The GOP has long done as much gerrymandering as possible for the direct purpose of denying the vote to minorities and now we have them releasing private info of an ex CIA officer.As we speak the evil congressional "investigation"has reopened after having Nunes completely destroy it's credibility to try and take Oh's security clearance away when it's TRUMP'S clearance that should be removed as he is a proven Russian agent.Deplorable and Lindsey Graham,you've got some explaining to do.What do the Russian's have on you??Let's have a look at all republican's net worth.
4
She's 100% right to complain about this.
I have no idea whether the FOIA allows someone to get CIA security applications. If if doesn't (as I suspect is the case), the appropriate scalawags should be identified, convicted, and thrown in prison for a very long time. If it does, the FOIA should be changed immediately so that this information is not available -- and all members of both houses of Congress should be ashamed that they haven't done this sooner.
I'm all for transparency, but this woman deserves her privacy, as we all do. I'm glad she's complaining about this. She should, and something very serious should be done in response to her complaints.
1
Whoever did this broke the law and needs to be prosecuted. This is the logical consequence of dopes like Devin Nunes, Jim Jordan, Mark Meadows and company deciding they’ll use and leak classified information to support their wacky theories and defense of Donald and his minions.
In every way, Paul Ryan is a disgrace to the House of Representatives. He has allowed this egregious behavior to go on, completely unchecked. Devin Nunes just got back from London where he tried unsuccessfully, to meet with British intelligence agencies to further his fevered dreams of investigations on Donald’s behalf. They refused to meet with him.
I hope they find the perpetrator(s) soon and prosecute them to the fullest extent possible. Really a disgrace. Everyone should care about this, even Republicans.
3
With Trump's uninterrupted assault on the country's security agencies, the involvement of a Trump supporter is not the last place to look for who, when and where. There is no question as to the why.
Thuggish intimidation has been the president's M.O. from the start of his adult life. Now that he has, thanks to an acquiescent, acolytic majority in Congress, for all prectical purposes unlimited power and absolutely the unlimited power to pardon federal crimes, federal laws can be ignored with utter impunity as long as Trump benefits. At this time in history, the United States is not a nation of laws but a fiefdom hostage to the whims of a petulant pre-adolescent.
3
I have to admit I wasn't terribly sympathetic to Valerie Plame:
"I guess the Republicans haven't learned anything from the Valerie Plane incident."
As I recall, Ms. Plame made sure her photo was splashed all over every US and foreign publication she could find, all the while complaining that her privacy was being invaded. She reminded me greatly of the William Agee/Mary Cunningham affair (Bill Agee was then the (married) CEO of Bendix Corporation, and Ms. Cunningham was his unmarried assistant). Mr. Agee and Ms. Cunningham held daily press conferences to plead for their privacy.
This woman, by contrast, doesn't appear to have sought publicity at all -- certainly not for her personal information. She's just asking for what any of us would ask for, and she should get it.
2
@MyThreeCents
When a spy is outed they are not the only ones endangered, any one who was in contact with them is.
1
Ms. Spanberger can take a seat next to Ms. Plame as a woman who was outed as a CIA operative. Spanberger by the GOP and Plame by Robert Novak.
Once AGAIN, the GOP demonstrates how the rule of law does not pertain to them while they continue their war against women. Girls, wake up and smell the coffee.
The GOP really WILL NOT stop at anything in order to win.
3
A woman serves her country in an especially dangerous way and her reward is to have her history and personal data used against her in a political campaign? Is this the way we treat people who are working to keep our country safe? I don't think it should be.
I hope Ms. Spanberger takes this issue to court to find out how the application was obtained and then has everyone involved punished to the fullest extent of the law.
And then I hope she wins her campaign!
8
It’s time to start locking the people up who do this sort of thing for a long stretch in a Federal Maximum Security Prison. This is a breach of a very serious law.
20
We need two parties -- but the Republican party no longer deserves to be one of them.
26
I am so angry. There should be a lawsuit against Paul Ryan, the culprit. The GOP has become a party of crooks and criminals. They are changing the standard and norms of politics in USA. They are taking to gutter. They are dismantling the institutions of Democracy.
27
@ASHRAF CHOWDHURY
There's no need to sue. Laws were violated. There needs to be an investigation and prosecution of the culprits.
1
At what point will the intelligence professionals have had enough of the modern Republican party?
Despite Trump's fevered imagination, there was no "deep state" plot against him, but I wouldn't mind if one began now.
20
It's hard to summon up outrage over disclosure of personal info when government applications were already the subject of leaks under the previous administration.
On the other hand, when does civility and discretion kick in?
2
Russia, Syria, and others are ‘thug’ nations. Now we have the ‘thug’ Republican Party. Stooping so low to use a security clearance for political reasons is not surprising. So Ms. Spanberger taught at the Islamic Saudi Academy? Is this cause for concern? Apparently to smear her it is. Never in my life would I have thought the GOP to be so utterly devoid of basic morals and codes of conduct that define us as human. Hypocrites...every last one.
17
Seems to fit. CIA secret agent, Velerie Plame was outed by operatives in the GOP.
The criminal, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, was pardoned by Trump.
..........So much for "National Security"
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/valerie-plame-joe-wilson-rip-tr...
21
Agents of the CIA put their lives on the line every hour of every day. They should be respected for their work and their identities should be held completely hidden until it is deemed safe by their superiors to allow them to be made public. I don't think FOIA applies in this case, nor should it.
Any person, regardless of whether they have sensitive jobs, should be afforded the right to privacy, especially when it comes to things like their SSNs. Most of us would be outraged if our personal information was laid bare for all to see. This is another example of how low Republicans will go to get elected. The actions of the man in the White House are a glaring example of how far from "the shining city on a hill" we have slipped. He has normalized the use of criminal tactics in campaigning for office.
121
@Blueinred
Don't be so quick to judge. Here in MA we have the incumbent running again for Secretary of State, a position he's held for over 24 years. One of the jobs of the secretary of state is to certify election results. William F. Galvin has used his position to look into a specific municipality's voting rolls in order to determine whether one of his opponents has voted or not, and is running commercials incessantly criticizing said opponent of that. I've never seen this in my life. There's no way either of his opponents would have access to this information, and neither should Galvin.
2
Outing FBI and CIA members is a particularly Republican action - sort of reminds one of those Russian spy novels, where the mole outs the secrets agents...wait we do have a mole in the WH and the Congress....
10
Beware, the elephant "POTUSA" not only wants a 2nd term in office he wants a third and more. Please vote 2018 and 2020.
8
I’m sure we all sleep better knowing that if a Democrat PAC found itself in possession of this kind of oppo research, they would immediately turn it over to the proper authorities. Sure..
4
@Midwest Josh
Yes, pretty rich criticism considering what went on in the Obama Administration with those FISA warrants. Suddenly they're outraged over improper use of intelligence.
Gore's campaign received George Bush,s debate briefing book —not only did they return it immediately, they notified the FBI, and Gore furloughed his lead debate coach who had received the briefing book!
So, yes, for the most part, the Democrats do behave differently!
7
@Stephanie Bradley - bad example. Donna Brazile gave Hillary a preview of the questions before the debate.
Seriously? This is what Brat's backers have resorted to? Leaking info that could not have been obtained via a FOIA request? What crazy times that briefly teaching English in a U.S.-based Muslim school Is supposed to mean the Spanberger is a terrorist. I hope this episode backfires on Brat and that the good, informed, and savvy citizens of Chesterfield County (and beyond in this grotesquely gerrymandered district) see this ploy for what it is - a cheap, dirty, fallacious smear. Vote that know-nothing Trumper Brat out of office! Vote Spanberger for a genuine servant of the people!
17
This reeks of Scooter Libby and former Vice President, Dick Cheney, when they outed Valarie Plame's status as a CIA agent/spy.
The party of "God and Country", the GOP, will do anything to win - at any cost - to anyone - or anything. Hypocrisy runs rampant in the family values party where Evangelicals allow the Liar in Chief to mobilize their base with racist fear mongering to "get out the vote".
The "bombastic loudmouths" that John McCain warned us about, have won over the party of "God" with the steady drip, drip, drip of hate speech, racism and sexism upon the very people who should recoil from such talk - Christians! These so called "Christians" have adopted the Anti-Christ (Donald J. Trump) as their savior from the brown people, and they evidence no shame for doing so. I certainly hope they are correct in their belief in hell, because if they are, it is almost certain that these hypocritical frauds should expect to spend a good deal of time in hell come judgment day!
15
Is anyone surprised by this latest breach by the right? Remember Valery Plame?
6
The oh so flag waving Republican have a h@bit of doing what ever they think will help them. Remember Valerie Plame?Country be damned
14
Why anyone would trust someone from the CIA is beyond me. They literally lie for a living. Their heads have all been caught recently lying to Congress.
3
I think it is more the Republican leadership in Congress has been caught lying about the CIA and FBI. They blame their lies on the administrative heads of our spy and law enforcement agencies - another lie.
3
Ah, Shades of Scooter Libby and Valerie Plame.
Isn't this a crime?
(And not surprised that Paul Ryan is in there. What else does The Boy have to do? Every Republican is busy demolishing every law ever written but Ryan's job is to introduce new laws - and "new" laws are persona non grata in this Congress. Everyone's busy-busy except poor old Paul. Are you still retiring, Paul? Enjoy that hefty retirement we'll be paying....)
7
Of course they did!
There's a black hole where our nation's morals used to be, and we're all getting sucked down into it.
8
I am shocked ! Shocked ! That Paul Ryan and his PAC would do anything underhanded, sleazy, or illegal, or even treasonous, to advance their personal fortunes.
22
Did the Republicans pay for the info? If they did and the info came from a foreign source, isn't that illegal?
5
Our democracy is in peril. Vote accordingly and get everyone you know, and don't know, to do the same.
13
The CLF published the letter from USPS indicating that it was responding to a CLF request by giving them Spanberger’s OPF file: http://congressionalleadershipfund.org/clf-issues-statement-what-is-abig...
Everyone is assuming that the intel community does clearances perfectly, but that is foolish because they do make mistakes. It appears that she worked for this suspect academy in 2002 but that Congress was not activated to investigate said academy until 2005 (by Sen. Schumer a D btw), which could account for why the USPS cleared her. The CIA employment may have seen that tie as an exploitable aspect of Spanberger’s background (especially if she was a NOC which this article does not tell us), or the CIA erred.
As someone with a decades long OPF file, it terrifies me that if I ever felt motivated to run for local office, it could be released. The self-rightous boo-yah here’s proof that Trump & anyone who votes Republican deserve to live under majority tyranny folks are being foolish; why would anyone be willing to serve our government if the risk is your SF-85 would be released to the public sans convicted proof that you lied?
And alternatively, if you think Trump’s comments re Putin rise to the level of treason, then you should care if your political officials have ties to suspect organizations that foment terrorism and disloyalty to the US, too.
3
@AMCITLivingOnTheBorder
What's a sans?
@AMCITLivingOnTheBorder
That "USPS letter" looks fake. Or the person responding in the letter is a partisan hack working in the Postal Service.
@matty
sans = without
Not only does the so-called president embrace Putin, but the GOP is acting like Russian thugs. Anything goes to hold on to power. And the Associated Press cooperates. Where are their standards? GOP politics are infecting everything. Vote in November to make a change and remove the GOP from power -- while you still have a vote that counts.
10
The GOP has become an evil enterprise. This reminds me of their attack on Valerie Plame, a covert CIA officer whose identity was revealed by Republicans when her husband disputed Bush administration claims about Saddam Hussein buying uranium from Niger that were used as evidence to invade Iraq.
21
This is horrifying. We must not render ourselves powerless against this shocking, contemptuous betrayal of our democratic principles, of our privacy. I will fight with and for Ms. Spanberger.
12
Once again, evidence of Republican-led voter fraud.
Register people to vote. Get to the polls. Become the change America needs!
6
Republicans still play upon the irrational fears some people in our country have about Arabs. McCain slapped down that elderly lady at the event when he ran for President, but the nonsense persists and republicans still foment the hate.
7
Did anything ever happen to Richard Armitage?
This can't possibly be legal. It's also irrational to imply that it meant or means something other than what it was, a temporary job that she reported to her future employer, the CIA.
It's pure bigoted projection to assume that the school was in any way nefarious. When Trump and his entourage were prancing around with Saudi royals, some of whom may fund extreme Islamic causes, did anyone accuse them of anything but pandering to oil barons?
24
She worked at the Islamic Saudi Academy for two years from 2003-2005 under her maiden name, Davis, yet never divulged this to the press. So much for her proclaimed "integrity."
Lying by omission is still lying.
But hey, once a spy, always a spy.
6
@Expatico,
I agree.
1
@Expatico Why is she required to inform the press about anything?
5
@Expatico
Why would she divulge any of it to anyone, press or not?
Whether the release of the Privacy Act protected information was the result of a foreign hack or complicity of the Administration, the fact that the information was shared with a political party to influence an election in the Republican's favor is alarming. Remember that foreign government hacking and possible coordination with political operatives may have resulted in tipping the election toward Trump in 2016.
Is this what America has become? Where the rule of law is so deteriorated that those with access to power will use subterfuge and illegally-gotten gains to win at any cost, even by undermining democracy?
140
@Jonathan
"Is this what America has become? Where the rule of law is so deteriorated that those with access to power will use subterfuge and illegally-gotten gains to win at any cost, even by undermining democracy?"
Yes. It is what we have already become. The question now is whether we can become a free country again in the next election, or in decades, or ever.
4
@Jonathan
In answer to your question - Yes!
The GOP continues to refuse to release court papers from their Supreme Court nominee to fellow Senators. However, say ho hum to breaching national security and individual rights to smear a loyal American in order to possibly win an election.
Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts obsolutely
Gerrymandering to suppress voters who may not vote the “right” way, extremist judges, destroying our civil rights, clean air and water. The list continues. I am no longer surprised by the GOP’s loss of integrity but I am still shocked by their actions.
250
I guess the Republicans haven't learned anything from the Valerie Plane incident. How fitting that Scooter Libby, the man who ousted Plame as a (at the time active duty) CIA operative, has been pardoned by President Trump. That time it was payback for Joe Wilson's op-ed challenging the basis on which the Iraq war was being justified. Now it's open political warfare and intimidation.
Nevermind that former Vice President Dick Cheney escaped the serious repercussions he should have faced for probably inciting and directing Libby towards the course of action he undertook.
This is yet another startling example of how far the Republicans, who drape themselves with the American flag and drip with supposed patriotism, have fallen by the wayside.
437
@loco73 don't you mean President Bush ?
2
@johnnyd
Pres. Bush commuted Libby's prison sentence but Trump pardoned him this past April.
Scooter was pardoned by Trump. Bush declined Cheney's request. Maybe Trump's pardon wasn't so random after all?
Responses to FOIA requests are never provided UNredacted. Even much less sensitive information than this is redacted before being provided.
7
Is she going to work to protect every American's privacy?
2
Spanberger is right to be upset but this is the new tactic by the Trump administration to try and control elections and they will use every means of spinning the truth to achieve their goals.
Both parties will be using this game plan for the midterms and the 2020 elections.
2
@BTO. Even more troubling is the fact that this is not a “new tactic” of the GOP. Cheney outed Valerie Plaim for rank political gain. The GOP continues to pose a grave National Security risk.
1
National security information is vital, not only to the security of our country but also in order that the GOP and its allies can use the classified information for political gain. This incident calls to mind the Valerie Plame affair in the early years [2002-2003] of the previous Republican president, in which another CIA covert operative was attacked using classified information for partisan political purposes.
10
This is from CLF:
“It should surprise no one that Ms. Spanberger would want to hide from voters that she worked at a school that produced some of the world’s most dangerous terrorists. CLF follows the letter of the law in examining any candidate’s background and Ms. Spanberger was no different. That she’s threatening legal action, however, should raise serious questions for voters about what else she is trying to hide. For any interested parties, CLF is happy to provide redacted copies of the information Ms. Spanberger is trying to hide from voters in Virginia.”
Outrageous that Sparenberger's demand for CLF to "cease and desist" has been turned around as her attempt to suppress information that she wants to hide. CLF doesn't get it. Its about sanctity of privacy.
6
@Zev
I thought Republicans hated leakers.
Trump repeats it so often it’s practically a GOP mantra.
Yet,
a leak by Republicans to benefit their own is sanctioned and in the interest of National security.
More hypocrisy brought to us by the former part of Lincoln.
P. S. She disclosed her connection to the US Government Agents doing her background check.
P. S. S. She worked at a Saudi Arabian school. Trump loves Saudi Arabia. Trump did not place Saudi Arabia on his travel ban list of Islamic countries. Trump obviously doesn’t view Saudi Arabia as a threat, he has several properties there, and “made a deal” to sell them $110 billion in weapons.
1
It's unfortunate that the Super Pacs weren't as diligent investigating Donald Trump or Mike Pence. Who knows, if they had, we wouldn't be in this mess.
14
Next thing, the Trump Administration will be leaking the security information of active personnel they don't like, but we can be sure the Republicans will pretend not to see.
12
The GOP should rebrand itself GUP, the Great Unethical Party.
The only secret that is sacred for them is the president’s tax return.
16
Yes, Virginia, there is a deep state. It's also known as the Republican Party.
Their sole objective is to maintain power at any cost.
20
If true, this is an outrage. National security agencies must have the ability to do background checks from complete information, and that goes far beyond what should be public, far beyond what it is legal to ask in any other setting. To do the security work, the information must be held properly confidential.
However, I am troubled by the lack of reporting on what actually happened. All we get are the two sides' stories, unchecked, and one side headlined while the other side is buried in the middle.
Ideally, the report would include a check on who is lying. If it can't, it should not be reported as if one side is honest and the other not.
9
Any day I'm sure Devin Nunes will be opening an House investigation to find the law-breaking leakers.
30
@cyclist
Nunes won't get around to investigating the law-breakers until he finishes with a multi-year investigation of the candidate's time teaching at the school and the life history of every student and family that ever attended the school. Is he back from his trip to England looking into Christopher Steele yet? Wonder what his voters think they get from this idiot.
1
So the Republicans are now colluding with the Chinese as well as the Russians. Once again they have obtained hacked information from our adversaries in order to win elections. And you have to wonder what kind of deals were made in return for this information. Sounds treasonous.
50
@Bemused
Trump and his party will collude with anyone to gain more power. They view other authoritarian states with envy and seek to divide the world into spheres of influence with obvious geographical boundaries, must as the Japanese and Nazis did in WW II. Not fantasy, not hyperbole. Trump's daily moronic distractions are merely cover for what is going on under your noses and, if you don't wake up soon, you will be making "trade agreements" with Vladimir, Xi, and Kim and throwing Europe under the bus. No more NATO - just hand over the US to Russia on a silver platter.
Putin has realized his greatest dream: con queuing the U.S. without a shot, without a missile. Trump is doing his bidding and amassing a fortune for himself and his acolytes in the process.
7
A letter asking that they stop using confidential information is not going to bother these people. A lawsuit with perhaps a "flipper" or two will get their attention.
36
Take away, Ms Spanberger 'she taught at a private Islamic school funded by Saudi Arabia', and is proud of that.
So proud she got real mad when voters found out.
Two Faced Kellys has to be proud of that, or not hide it. but can't be proud of something, then get mad when it gets out.
10
@shark -- That is the angle taken by the push poll, but that is far from the main reason for concern that this security clearance application was released to the public.
8
@shark My takeaway is that the CIA knew what she was doing, because she told them, so your thesis doesn't measure up. The woman went on to work there and do the opposite of what you are accusing her of doing.
The point is, it's illegal to get information this way and to distribute it. Further, Islamist doesn't mean terrorist, as much as wingers like to conflate that for political purposes.
Every GOP president has had a "special" relationship with Saudi Arabia, so what's your point? No one accused Trump or his administration of doing something unsavory when he took his first foreign trip there and he and his entourage took part in ceremonies that some crackpot might see as "Islamist" and suspicious. Rather, we just thought they were worshiping wealth wherever it might reside.
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She said she is proud of her background--the entirety of her background, which includes eight years investigating international terrorism on behalf of the United States. It's strange that you would write such a misleading misquote while totally ignoring the possibility that Paul Ryan's people may somehow be involved with Chinese hackers who have breached high-level government security. Your focus is misplaced.
9
This is not only illegal and shady but utterly ridiculous.She got into the CIA for pete's sake! If their background checks didn't turn up anything suspicious why does the idiot GOP think voters will be hoodwinked into thinking she is some sort of terrorist? Oh. Wait.Never mind.
85
Curious that the "Deep state" only ever attacks Trump.
2 way street? Or would that be considered conspiracy thinking by Trumpers?
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@Dan
Maybe the Dems have enough sense to not pull stuff like that.
2
@Dan “The Deep State” is Trumpese for “The Rule of Law.”
1
Grand Old Party Over Country. Every. Single. Time.
Vote in November like our way of life depends on it. Because it does.
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If the information was indeed obtained by a Freedom of Information Act request then the blame is on the agency that supplied it unredacted. The PAC was trying to do research on a candidate and went after a reasonable source of information. Get mad at the Postal Service, not the PAC.
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@Ben
Except it's extraordinarily unlikely for such a mistake to take place. These are security-protected documents, and FOIA requests are subject to rigorous review as to whether the material can be released in the first place, and typically heavy redaction when and if disclosures take place. And these documents were released from a security office. This is not a mistake that's easy to make, and in fact is contrary to every expected control.
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@Jonathan
Not hard to understand the outrage over FISA warrants being procured with glaring omissions (ex., that Hillary funded the dossier and Ohr had been in contact with a Russian oligarch).
Most of us had no idea our intelligence agencies were so deeply involved in politics and naively thought they only behaved like this toward perceived threats -- outside the country.
1
@Ben, it is also questionable that the PAC would use the information. There was a time when even politicians adhered to a higher ethical standard than this.
5
Apparently the GOP can do whatever it wants including obtaining highly sensitive information it is NOT allowed to have under the Freedom of Information Act. Shame on whoever disseminated this document. This is the very definition of dirty politics.
I don’t want to hear another word about the Steele dossier from Republicans and their rabid followers. A Republican donor originally contracted with Fusion GPS for dirt on Trump on behalf of Marco Rubio.
The GOP talking heads continue to smear Hillary and the Democratic Party though she didn’t use the information in it. In retrospect, I wish she had!
The NYT and other media outlets continue to perpetuate the myth by only reporting the Democratic connection to the Steele dossier.
94
Russian cheating and fraudulent tactics are written all over GOPers face. GOPers cannot win an honest election, just look at the W.H.
56
The Republican Party is wholly corrupt. A parade of bad faith actors who put their own interests over those of our country.
They are cowards, unfit to serve the public.
Why should our tax dollars support them?
48
This is a criminal act. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/798 probably covers it. If the Super PAC can be proved to have got it from the Chinese hack, then perhaps they are also covered under a conspiracy statute.
It's also looking like a privacy violation under the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. § 552a. See subsections (b) and (g)(1)(d). https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCODE-2010-title5/html/USCODE-2010-title5... which entitles her to sue the Federal Government.
If there's medical info in there, it could be a violation of HIPPA too.
If the R's are going to show they have "skin in the game" to prove to their base that they care, let's use the facts surrounding their bad acts to make them pay for their crimes.
106
Yet Reality Winner gets 5 years in jail for one count by leaking the fact that the NSA was not going to tell us Russia hacked our election. It will take over one hundred years of research to find out how deep Russia influenced the election of this president and 5 years of Reality Winner's life.
Do we want a government that destroys the truth? Who says only 64 people died in Puerto Rico yet thanks to this president, over 2 thousand, 9 hundred and seventy five died, a direct result of this administration's lack of care.
History will also hold this president responsible for the deaths due to pulling relief from Palestine and bombs sold to Saudi Arabia being dropped on Yemen. This administration has seen fit to make deals with al Qaeda https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/08/report-saudi-uae-coalition-cut-de...
40
Sounds like the Attorney General has some investigating to do! But since Ms. Spanberger is a Democrat, the Justice Dept will do nothing. Perhaps POTUS will tweet about this? No? Sad!
46
I can tell you about the voters they appeal to. A group of us Dem activists protest with signs for Kaine and Wexton on Route 7 across from Comstock's office. Some of the filthy epithets yelled at us from cars would curl your hair. Yesterday, one of them drove his Honda CRV directly at two people on the side of the road and swerved away at the last minute. They hang their middle fingers out of their cars and call US traitors. The fact that we are what democracy looks like escapes them.
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And I can tell you about having to drive past rows of heavily armed gun rights activist in order to get to the local food store.
26
@Karen
I was accosted while driving. The truck driver and his comrade rode my bumper then pulled up along side me at a traffic light screaming obscenities, pointed at his gun rack on display and made crude gestures. I can only presume he didn’t like my bumper stickers supporting Democratic candidates. I have a new car and a policy of no more bumper stickers. It was terrifying and I’m not easily scared.
7
So that makes it alright to violate the privacy of a person who served her country and to put her and her family's safety at risk?! Interesting logic...
2
The "Deep State" that Trump continues to speak about happens to be the Republican Congress and his Cabinet members, not to mention the occupant of the White House and the employees.
That is what is really should be investigated.
58
The GOP, which my father was once a proud member of and I have occasionally supported on certain issues, even as a Democrat, is a hollow shell of its former self. It has become the party of liars and cheats, unable to win on merit.
68
This is extremely serious. Apparently, Trump has no compunction about violating the law. He may well be desperate and attempt to start a major war as a distraction.
26
Received the documents through FOIA request? Give me a break. Trump sets the tone that it is ok to lie, cheat or steal, defame, use name-calling or whatever method is necessary to scare people out of their wits and sway their votes. To say that the USA is headed on a track seen in Hungary is not as far-fetched as one thought. Now with Trump threatening Google over search results, he appears ready to attack every basic freedom to acquire and use information. What’s next? Thought police? This group should be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. No one should doubt that the lead up to the mid-term elections may be the most ugly one we have ever seen in the USA.
51
Carl Rove used push polling in the South Carolina primary between Bush and McCain who had just beat Bush in New Hampshire. Rove's poll asked voters if they would vote for McCain if they knew he had a non-white child. This is more of the same and from a group who pushed David Brat into office in the first place. Brat was an economics professor at George Mason University which has been heavily financed by the Kochs. That is who is behind this attack on Spanberger. Steyer, put your money into this race. It will be much better spent that on full page ads to impeach the Toddler in Chief. Let the Kochs know that the seat is not for sale.
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@nora m, Brat was a professor at Randolph-Macon. I'm not a fan of his but please get your information right.
1
@nora m Dave Brat was an Economics Professor at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, VA (near Richmond); not GMU in Fairfax, which has taken (too much!) Koch Brothers money.
2
What's new? Scooter Libby writ large in the Trump Administration. GOP squarely aligned with Russian/Chinese hacking activities.
59
The GOP can’t win on the merits, they require voter and candidate suppression tactics. That’s enough to tell you to “toss the bums out!”
79
I don’t suppose anyone figured out that the reason she was hired by the CIA was because of her connections to the school and her language skills. Releaing information like this jeopardizes her life. Obviously the GOP again shows it’s disregard for the life of its opponents.
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...and their constituents.
7
“They” aren’t the key. The Trumpist base is and they will fall for the spin hook line and sinker
10
How is it that the FBI or Virginia Attorney General cannot compel the super pac to disclose where they obtained the document? They are not a first amendment organization.
96
Because the Citizens United ruling has tossed so much money into the picture - that's why.
What elected official would want to jeopardize future campaign contributions?
2
A woman got 5 years releasing classified documents that were embarrassing to the government, but it’s OK to release and publicize the intimate details of a former intelligence official?
The rules are getting clearer and clearer. This going to get very nasty before it settles down. It seems the main M.O. is the ends justify the means.
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@historyRepeated
Hillary got off completely after bleach bitting evidence under subpoena. Where was the outrage then?
@AACNY. She was investigated and found innocent. Too bad if you’re displeased with the result. You won’t be granted a do-over.
1
There was plenty of outrage associated with HRC’s email server, or were you hiding in a bunker? Is she President? Didn’t Comey excoriate her behavior right before the election (rather deservedly, IMHO)?
Please save the whataboutism for something else.
2
I suspect this story is the tip of an iceberg that needs to be exposed and melted down
66
Is the illegal activity by republicans really surprising?
54
I hope that the people of VA vote Ms. Spanberger into office by a wide margin repudiating these kinds of tactics and the racist use of them by the GOP and their win at all costs money people.
Then I hope that the new Democratic House adds this leak to their long list of illegal/improper activities to be investigated.
121
Typical GOP tactics, they have to go. Vote at midterms!
62
If there's one thing we've learned in the past couple years it's that most conservatives and their PACs and "think tanks" are generally willing to lie about anything and are certainly happy to support a proven liar in the highest office. And Republican voters are happy to go along with it.
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@Mford, and Ryan goes right along too. The least he could do is chastise the PAC publicly but he just distances himself like the coward he is.
3
Only the Republican party could be so anti-American, unpatriotic, and perverse as to obtain an ex-CIA agent's file (legally or illegally, and, in the Trump era, illegal conduct is just par for the course), and then argue about softness on terrorism from it. This is Republican bizarro-world, where lies and cheating are the chosen strategies.
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@AM
Sounds like another Valerie Plume situation. Republlcans were responsible for that fiasco as well. Remember Dick Cheney?
30
Russian meddling, super pacs, computer hacking, information leaks, dirty tricks, voter suppression, gerrymandering, the exaggerations, the lies. This stuff makes Nixon's Watergate break-in look like child's play. And on top of it all there is the electoral college. The outcomes in US elections are becoming increasingly suspect. If US democracy unravels, a root cause will be Citizens United.
321
And that judicial disgrace came BEFORE the "covfefe" GOP fenced Garland's Supreme Court seat and another (and counting) to the Thief Justices! The deep pit they've dug our country will be tough for we the Sane to climb out of—but it's all the more reason to.
Canada, we sincerely apologize. We'll fix this and end the Tradewreck of tariff wars and needless NAFTA and other treaty re-negotiations, or die fighting.
Vote tooth and nail 11/6, USA. Humanity is at stake.
2
Request information on an individual from the CIA and the answer you will receive is they "can neither confirm nor deny " any relationship. This is an obvious breach of national security and should result in the conviction and imprisonment of all Republicans involved.
205
Despicable. There’s no length the GOP wouldn’t go to win. But this also says something about the voters they’re appealing to.
145
There is no bottom to the Trump/Republican party. And it scares me to think there will be no accountability.
178
It is obvious how the CLF got her CIA application unredacted. It was leaked on Trump’s orders or at least with his approval. There is no mystery. This is the man who leaked information to Russian officials right in the Oval Office with only Russian camermen there.
Occam’s Razor...the simplest solution that fits all the facts. One more item to add to Democrats’ if they don’t mess up in November.
182
Typo: I meant to say: One more item to add to Democrats' list of investigations if they don't mess up and lose both Houses in November.
13
@Dadof2
I don’t think it’s a question of Democrats messing up in November. It’s a question of how secure our voting procedures are. The federal government under Trump has taken no measurable action to ensure the security of the November election.
In addition, Trump’s reference to violence if Republicans lose in November in his speech to evangelicals makes me very concerned about public safety during and after the November election. Trump has a knack for claiming the Democrats will be violent knowing some within his base will hear they need to be ready to protect the Trump vision of and for America from Democrats.
1
The release of this document is illegal. I hope she sues the federal government and uses the discovery process to find out who relayed it. There are personal penalties under the privacy act. She should sue everyone.
357
@John Smith: Hopefully a GoFundMe site will be established for this.
10
Based on the Republican track record of dirty tricks, Ms. Spanberger's assertion of malfeasance on the part of the Congressional "Leadership" Fund is highly believable. In previous decades, I may have been more skeptical.
When the Democrats come back into power, and they will, I hope they're able to withstand the temptation to engage in similar dirty tricks. It's great for short-term wins, but in the long run, most Americans will see through it.
128
I doubt the dems would respond with dirty tricks when in the majority, what I fear is that they won’t pursue legal remedies. The biggest problem I have with Obama is that he refused to prosecute the criminal right.
2
If Trump and Company thought the Saudis were such a threat, surely Saudi Arabia would have been included in the Muslim Ban?
272
@Emily Thompson
That may be the way Trump thinks. But it is not the way Trump’s supporters think. And this contradiction cannot be grasped or even recognized by the vast majority of Trump supporters. They are too busy tapping into their prejudices.
19
Good point. Plus didn't trump make Saudi Arabia his first international visit?
22
@Alberta Knorr
Yes, he did. He knows which side his bread is buttered, (whoops!), oiled on.
If security clearances are releasable under freedom of information act requests, as the Republicans claim they are, can the NY Times please request the clearance for one Donald J. Trump? Thank you, we’d all like to read it. Much obliged.
477
Gerrymandering, and now this. Another indirect way to win elections, this time by making prospective Democratic candidates think twice about running.
117
@e w
Also, the op ed that the republican Voldemort is telling the church what they have to do. This is disgusting beyond words. Any clergy who tell those that attend their church which way to vote are added to the growing number of people who have no morals.
Beyond disgusting.
16
More dirty tricks from the Republican leadership. It wouldn't surprise me to find out that actors within the Trump administration provided the information illegally. There's no shred of morality in the GOP leadership anymore.
283
@RG You do wonder what the GOP believes in anymore, if they're willing to do this to US citizens. Where does it stop? What kind of fascist state do they want America to be? Power crazed and blinded by the fear of losing power. Not a good combination for this democracy.
190
@RG
~There's no shred of morality in the GOP leadership anymore. ~
It died when Raygun was elected.
4
National security says this is particularly troubling if it’s not an isolated incident .. It’s particularly troubling in and of itself. This do whatever it takes to win/ party over country attitude is ruining people’s lives and destroying all the the US stands for
212