{"id":1907712,"date":"2023-03-31T08:26:19","date_gmt":"2023-03-31T12:26:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/former-gop-candidate-wants-answers-after-air-force-improperly-released-his-military-records\/"},"modified":"2023-03-31T08:26:45","modified_gmt":"2023-03-31T12:26:45","slug":"former-gop-candidate-wants-answers-after-air-force-improperly-released-his-military-records","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/former-gop-candidate-wants-answers-after-air-force-improperly-released-his-military-records\/","title":{"rendered":"Former GOP Candidate Wants Answers After Air Force Improperly Released His Military Records"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fformer-gop-candidate-wants-answers-after-air-force-improperly-released-his-military-records%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1907712&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"post_content\">\n<div class=\"aplayer_app\" data-source=\"https:\/\/vs1.youmaker.com\/assets\/2023\/0330\/beea163a-27fc-4e1e-a563-0b746c39e9c0\/audio.mp3?length=10130733&#038;duration=844\"><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<p>In J.R. Majewski\u2019s telling, the conditions were perfect for a mixup.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was in the car on my way home from Washington, D.C., driving with one of the folks who worked for me,\u201d he said in a March 23 interview with The Epoch Times.<\/p>\n<p>It was late September 2022, and the Republican running to fill Rep. Marcy Kaptur\u2019s (D-Ohio) seat in the 9th District was on his way to a GOP dinner in Toledo.<\/p>\n<p>Majewski suddenly found himself on another tight deadline when\u00a0the Associated Press reached out to his office at 10:30 a.m. with questions about his U.S. Air Force record. They wanted answers by 5 p.m.<\/p>\n<p>It would later become clear the AP had been working on the story for months.<\/p>\n<p>Majewski, who first gained attention in 2020 for painting a giant Trump flag on his triangular yard, had spoken about serving in Operation Enduring Freedom on the campaign trail. He\u2019d mentioned spending time in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5159281\" style=\"width: 479px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2023\/03\/29\/id5159281-majewski-photo-service-2.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> A photograph from J.R. Majewski\u2019s time in the U.S. Air Force. (Courtesy of J.R. Majewski.)<\/figure>\n<p>\u201cMy orders were to Qatar and not Afghanistan, but I flew in and out of multiple areas within the Operation Enduring Freedom theater during my deployment,\u201d Majewski told The Epoch Times.<\/p>\n<p>He says he was flying sorties full of \u201cgoods, troops, weapons, you name it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Majewski, a burly, bearded man with a thick Great Lakes accent, looks, walks, and talks like the prototypical Midwestern Trump supporter\u2013the group that swung the 2016 election to the former president.<\/p>\n<p>Left-wing podcaster Sam Seder dubbed Majewski \u201cOhio\u2019s Biggest MAGA Chud.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Months after the midterms, the former candidate still sees himself as part of a new GOP, at odds with the establishment that dominated the Republican Party before Trump.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it can be argued that there\u2019s a neocon or globalist group in the Republican Party that certainly wants us to get back to those days,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Majewski believes some in that old GOP have \u201cthis level of resentment and spite\u201d toward what he called America First Republicans.<\/p>\n<h2>Air Force Service Questioned<\/h2>\n<p>Back in September, on the road to Toledo, Majewski\u2019s immediate challenge was recollecting the specifics of his military record nearly two decades earlier.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI call my wife, and my wife starts digging through all my records,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Majewski says he sent pictures of those documents to the AP, which then responded with \u201ca flurry of questions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen they published their article on the 22nd and accused me of misrepresenting my military service.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Citing military records from the Air Force, the <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/2022-midterm-elections-afghanistan-ohio-campaigns-e75d2566635f11f49332bd1c46711999\">article<\/a> says those documents do not show Majewski was in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n<p>They instead indicated he \u201ccompleted a six-month stint helping to load planes at an air base in Qatar, a longtime U.S. ally that is a safe distance from the fighting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Reached by The Epoch Times, the Air Force could only confirm Majewski\u2019s deployment to Qatar. They could not verify that he spent time in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n<p>Majewski has argued that comments to the AP from the Air Force Personnel Office aren\u2019t inconsistent with his claims regarding Afghanistan.<\/p>\n<p>In a July 28 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/22672319-majewski-service-records\">email<\/a>, Michael Dickerson of that office told the AP they \u201cdon\u2019t have visibility on\u201d where Majewski did or may have gone from Qatar.<\/p>\n<p>In comments to the Toledo Blade, Dickerson disclosed just how much the Air Force doesn\u2019t know.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou have to recognize that this is the Air Force,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople do fly in and out of places all of the time. We can\u2019t confirm or deny that he served in Afghanistan because we [can\u2019t see] that in our databases.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5159283\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2023\/03\/29\/id5159283-majewski-photo-service.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> A photograph from J.R. Majewski\u2019s time in the U.S. Air Force. (Courtesy of J.R. Majewski.)<\/figure>\n<p>The AP questioned Majewski\u2019s account of spending 40 days in Afghanistan without a shower.<\/p>\n<p>Majewski sticks to that story too.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe used water bottles and baby wipes. I was on the flight line or flying. We didn\u2019t have all the amenities that eventually came,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Majewski\u2019s self-description as a \u201ccombat veteran\u201d also came under scrutiny.<\/p>\n<p>He has produced pay stubs showing he received \u201cimminent danger pay.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Epoch Times has examined those stubs.<\/p>\n<p>The Veterans Administration says they\u2019re enough to prove \u201cservice in a theater of combat operations,\u201d as shown in the VA \u201cCombat Veteran Eligibility\u201d\u00a0(<a href=\"https:\/\/www.va.gov\/healthbenefits\/assets\/documents\/publications\/ib-10-438_combat_veteran_eligibility.pdf\">pdf<\/a>) criteria.<\/p>\n<p>The Air Force Personnel Office could not authenticate those paystubs for The Epoch Times, citing the fact that they contained personally identifiable information.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve never claimed to be Rambo. What I\u2019ve said is that I\u2019m a combat veteran, and that\u2019s defined by the military and the Veterans Administration,\u201d Majewski said.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, <a href=\"https:\/\/nationalfile.com\/veteran-who-served-with-majewski-says-he-saw-fellow-serviceman-in-afghanistan-more-times-than-i-can-count\/\">National File<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/rumble.com\/v1mj1m5-afghanistan-vet-confirms-he-served-there-with-majewski.html\">One America News<\/a> interviewed an anonymous fellow servicemember who said he saw Majewski in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n<p>The Epoch Times could not independently interview that individual or confirm his service as of press time.<\/p>\n<p>AP also pointed out that Majewski didn\u2019t have the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary <a href=\"https:\/\/www.afpc.af.mil\/Fact-Sheets\/Display\/Article\/421911\/global-war-on-terrorism-expeditionary-medal\/\">Medal<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>An Air Force webpage on the criteria for that medal indicates that it can be won by \u201cservice members who, as a regularly assigned crew member [flew] sorties into, out of, within or over the area of eligibility.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In addition, the medal was only created in 2003, after Majewski left the Air Force.<\/p>\n<p>Majewski believes he would meet the qualifications for that award. He expects to receive it soon. First, though, he has to modify his DD-214, the core documentation of veterans\u2019 service.<\/p>\n<p>Majewski posted a <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JRMajewski\/status\/1638930243892199427\">letter<\/a>\u00a0from the Air Force on Twitter, granting his request to change his record to show his service time in Qatar.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you literally fake this?\u201d one anonymous Twitter user asked the Air Force veteran.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCall them and find out,\u201d Majewski replied.<\/p>\n<p>The Air Force has independently authenticated that letter to The Epoch Times.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3317813\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2020\/04\/19\/Air-Force-class-of-2020-toss-their-caps-1200x746.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> The class of 2020 tossed their caps in the air as the Thunderbirds flew over at the conclusion of the U.S. Air Force Academy graduation in Colorado Springs, Colo., on April 18, 2020. (Christian Murdock\/The Gazette via AP)<\/figure>\n<h2>Second Story Raises Questions on Document Access<\/h2>\n<p>On Sept. 28, the AP published a <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/2022-midterm-elections-afghanistan-ohio-campaigns-only-on-ap-14b98ee6b4e8ff023729a4498ade2ac0\">second article<\/a>\u00a0headlined, \u201cRecords contradict Majewski\u2019s account of military punishment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That story linked to Majewski\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/23074697-jrm\">non-judicial punishment<\/a> for drunk driving at Kadena Air Base in Japan\u2013the reason for a demotion during his service.<\/p>\n<p>While stuck in traffic on his way to Toledo, Majewski recalled being demoted for fighting in a dormitory.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was a mixup because these things happened back to back,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Majewski says he wrote to the AP to explain his mistake but has yet to hear back.<\/p>\n<p>The AP did not respond to repeated requests for comment from The Epoch Times.<\/p>\n<p>As soon as the AP published its second story, Majewski knew something wasn\u2019t right.<\/p>\n<p>Without his signature, the information about his non-judicial punishment shouldn\u2019t have reached the public.<\/p>\n<p>In his words, he told, \u201ceveryone who would listen that they had a copy of [his] records illegally.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The National Republican Campaign Committee canceled advertisements in support of Majewski.<\/p>\n<p>Majewski pointed out that a top Republican, Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), actually went on to campaign for him in his district after the AP stories appeared, suggesting that the GOP did not abandon him.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4972387\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2023\/01\/09\/Tom-Emmer-1200x801.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> U.S. Rep.-elect Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MI) talks to reporters as he leaves his office at the U.S. Capitol Building on January 05, 2023, in Washington. (Nathan Howard\/Getty Images)<\/figure>\n<p>Still, he reflected, \u201cat the end of the day, them pulling that money from me hurt me more than anything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Majewski lost to incumbent Kaptur, who ran ads showcasing the AP\u2019s reporting.<\/p>\n<p>But some questions didn\u2019t abate after Election Day: who got hold of Majewski\u2019s non-judicial punishment record, and how?<\/p>\n<h2>Some Answers Emerge<\/h2>\n<p>The answers, when they came, would involve what the Air Force claims was its error in response to a less visible partisan actor than Majewski.<\/p>\n<p>On March 23, the veteran received <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JRMajewski\/status\/1639307069676306439\">a letter<\/a> from the Air Force dated Feb. 8, 2023, stating that a man named Abraham Payton, with an organization called Due Diligence Group, had repeatedly requested Majewski\u2019s service records in June 2022.<\/p>\n<p>The letter showed he had done so under the stated pretense of \u201cemployment and benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He also had a copy of Majewski\u2019s Social Security Number.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDepartment of the Air Force employees did not follow proper procedures requiring the member\u2019s authorizing signature consenting to the release of information,\u201d an Air Force spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email authenticating Majewski\u2019s letter.<\/p>\n<p>Majewski was one of seven Republican congressional candidates whose records were improperly released to the Due Diligence Group by the Air Force in 2021 and 2022.<\/p>\n<p>The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) paid Due Diligence Group more than $110,000 in 2021 and 2022, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fec.gov\/data\/disbursements\/?data_type=processed&#038;committee_id=C00000935&#038;recipient_name=due+diligence&#038;two_year_transaction_period=2022\">records<\/a> from the Federal Election Commission (FEC).<\/p>\n<p>FEC records show the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee also paid it $173,000 during that period.<\/p>\n<p>Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall detailed those leaks in a March 17 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/air-force-confirms-names-2-more-republican-candidates-records-improperly-accessed\">letter<\/a> to House Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.)<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4443977\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/05\/03\/GettyImages-1240089534-1200x800.png\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> U.S. Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall speaks at the National Press Club on April 19, 2022, in Washington. (Drew Angerer\/Getty Images)<\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5041083\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2023\/02\/07\/GettyImages-1241860468-1200x800.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mo.) speaks during a House Committee on Rules meeting at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on July 12, 2022. (Oliver Contreras\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/figure>\n<p>Reps. Zach Nunn (R-Iowa) and Don Bacon (R-Neb.) also had their records improperly released.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVeterans deserve peace of mind knowing their information is safe and will be protected from political dirty tricksters,\u201d Bacon said in an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/gop-rep-livid-democrat-political-dirty-tricksters-obtained-air-force-records-republican-candidates\">interview<\/a> with Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n<p>Another candidate, Jennifer-Ruth Green, had the record of her sexual assault leaked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI said at one point in my life to my assailant, \u2018No, please stop, don\u2019t,\u2019 and he did what he wanted to do. And so this is the exact same situation all over again, all because there was a man who wanted some sort of gratification,\u201d Green told Fox News Digital regarding Politico\u2019s decision to publish details of the incident.<\/p>\n<p>Kendall\u2019s response came after Rogers and House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) wrote Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Feb. 13 about the release of documents to the Due Diligence Group.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis conduct by the Air Force is, at a minimum, unacceptable. The conduct by the research firm is quite possibly criminal,\u201d the representatives stated.<\/p>\n<p>Payton and Due Diligence Group may have run afoul of the Privacy Act.<\/p>\n<p>According to that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/opcl\/overview-privacy-act-1974-2020-edition\/criminal#:~:text=The%20Privacy%20Act%20allows%20for,if%20the%20official%20acts%20willfully\">law<\/a>, \u201cany person who knowingly and willfully requests or obtains any record concerning an individual from an agency under false pretenses shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined not more than $5,000.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Agency employees and officers could face similar penalties for knowingly or willfully improper disclosures.<\/p>\n<p>Comer and Rogers warned in their Feb. 13 letter that the Privacy Act, internal Department of Defense policy, and the Freedom of Information Act are all at play.<\/p>\n<p>In a March 23 <a href=\"https:\/\/armedservices.house.gov\/sites\/republicans.armedservices.house.gov\/files\/MR%20JC%20to%20LJA%20-%20Records%20Releases%20Follow%20on.pdf\">letter<\/a> following up on Kendall\u2019s response, Comer and Rogers set a March 31 deadline for more information from Austin, including records released from every service, not just the Air Force.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3769347\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2021\/04\/09\/rep-comer-1200x800.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) on Capitol Hill in Washington on Sept. 30, 2020. (Greg Nash\/ Pool\/Getty Images)<\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4966874\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2023\/01\/06\/secretary-lloyd-austin-1200x800.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin speaks during a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi at the Pentagon in Washington on Dec. 14, 2022. (Saul Loeb\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/figure>\n<p>They also asked for the names of anyone involved in releasing the records and information on any Due Diligence Group criminal referrals.<\/p>\n<p>Payton, of Due Diligence Group, appears to have served on the alumni board of St. Olaf College, a possibility Majewski raised in a T<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In J.R. Majewski\u2019s telling, the conditions were perfect for a mixup. \u201cI was in the car on my way home from Washington, D.C., driving with one of the folks who worked for me,\u201d he said in a March 23 interview with The Epoch Times. It was late September 2022, and the Republican running to fill<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":152,"featured_media":1907714,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[6229,6815,4076,4649,6203,23210,4505,3918,7231],"class_list":["post-1907712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times","tag-air","tag-answers","tag-candidate","tag-force","tag-gop","tag-improperly","tag-military","tag-records","tag-released"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1907712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/152"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1907712"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1907712\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1907714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1907712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1907712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1907712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}