OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
A Republican Air Force veteran has confirmed evidence that her political opponents leaked information to the press against her wishes about a sexual assault that happened to her while she was serving in Iraq. The Air Force completed a preliminary inquiry into the breach of confidential personnel information about Jennifer-Ruth Green, who is a lieutenant colonel in the Indiana Air National Guard and a candidate for Congress in Indiana’s 1st District.
“The Air Force took full responsibility for improperly releasing Lt. Col. Green’s confidential personnel records to an opposition research firm just weeks before the midterm election,” Mr. Banks and Mr. Bucshon said in a joint statement.
On Wednesday, the Committee to Elect Jennifer-Ruth Green responded to a Fox News report on the Air Force acknowledging it illegally turned over Jennifer-Ruth Green’s confidential personnel records to a Democrat opposition research firm:
“I appreciate that we now have confirmation, as I have contended all along, that my records were not properly obtained through FOIA, as Politico claimed. They were obtained by a Democrat opposition research firm, and their release was illegal. It’s the worst of politics, and it’s just the latest example that Hoosiers deserve better than Congressman Frank Mrvan,” Green said. “I want to thank Senators Tom Cotton, Todd Young and Mike Braun as well as Congressman Jim Banks and Congressman Larry Bucshon for their ongoing efforts to demand accountability and get to the bottom of the illegal leak of my confidential files.”
“The walls are closing in on Congressman Mrvan. He denied any involvement in obtaining and leaking Jennifer-Ruth Green’s military records. Now we know the Air Force did release documents illegally to a Democrat opposition research firm. And we know what firm it was and we know they work for the DCCC, which has been coordinating so closely with Frank Mrvan that every ad he’s aired in this race they split the cost of. To believe Mrvan and his cronies didn’t know is laughable. There is more to come,” said Green’s Campaign Communications Director, Kevin Hansberger.
Green, who believes the records breach was a “politically motivated attempt to impact the upcoming election,” has vowed not to back down in her election bid.
“I’m going to stand up not only for me, but I’m going to stand up for every other survivor, every other vet, every other woman, because I’m not going to let Congressman Frank Mrvan do this, I’m not going to let Adam Wren do this, and I’m just done with it,” Green told Fox News Digital.
Greg Price reported that Politico ran the report against Jennifer-Ruth Green’s wishes.
Politico reported against the wishes of Republican candidate @JenRuthGreen that she was a survivor of sexual assault.
They said they obtained her records via a “public records request.”
Here is the Air Force saying today they were leaked to “an opposition research firm” pic.twitter.com/CuqWcWUH6r
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) October 26, 2022
Congressional Republicans have rallied to Jennifer-Ruth Green in the aftermath of the vicious media leak.
“I fully support my fellow AF veteran @JenRuthGreen,” Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., wrote on Twitter, “What the opposition and media did here is victim-shaming, and it is despicable.”
“I had to re-read the story a few times, because I was so genuinely shocked by it. No woman should have to disclose and relive details about her sexual assault because the media and a political opponent decided to use it against her,” wrote Morgan Ortagus, a former State Department spokeswoman.
In addition to these dirty political tactics, the Congressional Black Caucus has actually donated to a white liberal male opponent who is running against Jennifer-Ruth Green in her Congressional race, despite the obvious fact that she is an African-American.
“It’s the American people versus the DC politicians and lobbyists,” Air Force veteran Jennifer-Ruth Green told Fox News Digital in a statement. “I’m with the American people. The Congressional Black Caucus is with the politicians and lobbyists, and their career politician ally Frank Mrvan.”
“America’s poorest communities are proof Frank Mrvan and the CBC care more about power and helping themselves than helping the people of northwest Indiana. It’s sad,” she added.
Campaign finance records show that the CBC donated $5,000 to the campaign of Democratic Congressman Frank Mrvan in late September to defend his seat representing Indiana’s First Congressional District.
“Mrvan received $5,000 from the CBC‘s PAC on Sept. 28, bringing his reported total at the end of the month to $1,871,504, according to Open Secrets,” the Washington Examiner reported. “Some $536,000 of that money has been raised by other similar political action committees. In 2018, Mrvan raised $40,174, ultimately earning Indiana’s 1st Congressional District seat.”
Green would be the sole black female Republican woman in Congress if elected.
There is no excuse for a mainstream press outlet to run a report about a sexual assault based on confidential records, especially against the victim’s wishes. It is simply not newsworthy or relevant to the election race.
Such is the nature of the mainstream media: Claim to care about sexual assault victims and then throw all credibility on the issue away to make a blatantly partisan attack on a conservative Republican.
