In Unprecedented Move, The US Postal Service Released A Former CIA Officer's Security Application to Republican Group

Grace Wyler & Jason Leopold, BuzzFeed, Aug. 29, 2018

The United States Postal Service has released the entire federal security clearance application of a former CIA officer running for Congress, in what experts say is a highly unusual, and perhaps unprecedented, move, given the extensive, highly personal nature of the information contained in such documents.

In an interview with the New York Times published Tuesday, the former officer, Abigail Spanberger, accused the Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC aligned with House Speaker Paul Ryan, of improperly obtaining the document, and suggested that the Trump administration may have leaked the information for partisan purposes.

But BuzzFeed News can confirm that an unredacted copy of the federal security clearance application was obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request filed by America Rising, a research group allied with the Republican Party, which then shared it with the Congressional Leadership PAC Spanberger, a Democrat, is challenging Republican Rep. David Brat in a Virginia congressional race that has become surprisingly competitive going into the fall midterm campaign.

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