Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., revealed that she could be the latest Republican to have her private military records allegedly leaked to a Democratic opposition research firm by the U.S. Air Force, adding to the scandal already plaguing the Department of Defense.
The freshman congresswoman accused the Air Force Monday of likely leaking her own military records and failing to respond to official correspondence demanding answers about a series of leaks that has affected a number of other GOP lawmakers and former candidates.
‘The USAF leaked information of USAF candidates in the 2022 midterms to a DEMOCRAT OPPO research firm,’ Luna tweeted Monday. ‘Yes, I also have reason to believe my records were leaked. This is likely going to be a criminal investigation,’ she added.
Almost a dozen of GOP lawmakers and former candidates have now come out saying they were impacted by the Air Force’s ‘unauthorized’ release of military information. Much of the records appear to have been requested by and turned over to an opposition research firm that received money from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), the campaign arm for House Democrats.
Former GOP House candidate Jennifer-Ruth Green was another veteran whose personnel records, including details of a sexual assault that occurred during her time in the Air Force, were released to the public without her consent. The Air Force admitted in a letter that her military personnel records were released to a third party ‘without proper redaction.’
In an interview with Fox News Digital Monday, Luna said: ‘I believe that this is probably not the first time that this opposition research firm has done this.’
‘Obviously, being a service member, I think that, regardless of political affiliation, they need to be held accountable, and they can’t give our private information, whether it’s health or service records, to anyone without our consent,’ Luna continued.
‘In my opinion, it’s unacceptable, and it’s BS that they didn’t get back to us sooner,’ she later added.
Luna reiterated her belief that the investigation surrounding the leak will become ‘criminal in nature.’
The congresswoman explained she was contacted on Feb. 6 by one of her former supervisors from her time in the Air Force letting her know that a reporter had reached out asking about her time in the military.
Luna explained that the news outlet, which she requested remain unnamed, admitted to having access to her military records in the texts with her former supervisor, who she said they would not have known to contact without access to those records. She said her former supervisor did not respond to the requests for comment, but noted that the questions by the news outlet were related to her having an alleged relationship with Russia.
A member of Luna’s staff member then reached out to the news outlet. The reporter then allegedly accused Luna of having ‘paid off’ her former supervisor to not answer questions about her.
She told Fox New Digital that after receiving the message from her former supervisor, she reached out to former Republican congressional candidate J.R. Majewski, whose military records had been leaked, to ask if he had been notified by the Air Force of his documents being released. He said he had not.
She told Fox News Digital that only certain members of Congress were notified that their records were leaked by the Air Force, including Reps. Don Bacon, R-Neb., and Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, but that list did not include her.
Luna said she subsequently sent a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Feb. 13 requesting answers concerning the leaked information.
She provided Fox News Digital a copy of the Air Force’s response that they would miss the Feb. 27 deadline and respond by March 17.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Department of Defense for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.