The U.S. Postal Service apologized Thursday for releasing the security clearance application of former CIA operative and current congressional candidate Abigail Spanberger.
USPS “deeply regrets” handing over employment records for Abigail Spanberger, including the SF-86 clearance application form, to a Republican group that conducts opposition research into members of the Democratic Party. The postal service had retained the records from when she worked there while waiting for the CIA to run a background check on her. She had earlier received a conditional job offer from the spy agency.
“We take full responsibility for this unfortunate error, and we have taken immediate steps to ensure this will not happen again,” USPS spokesman David Partenheimer wrote in a statement to the Washington Examiner, chalking it up to “human error.” “The privacy and security of personal information is of utmost importance to the Postal Service. The Postal Service offers our sincere apology to Ms. Spanberger, and we will request the return of the information which we mistakenly disclosed.”
Republican super PAC America Rising asked for details about Spanberger’s tenure at the postal service in July under the Freedom of Information Act and shared what it obtained with the Congressional Leadership Fund, an organization linked to House Speaker Paul Ryan.
Partenheimer added that USPS may have made similar errors in the past and, as a result, has provided staff with more guidance when responding to future FOIA demands and will roll-out additional training for employees.
“We are continuing our review, but believe the issue began in June of 2018, and that only a small number of additional requests for information from personnel files were improperly processed,” he wrote.
Lawyers for Spanberger and the Congressional Leadership Fund have exchanged letters over the candidate’s claim there is “no legal way” the groups could have received the documents, according to the New York Times. Spanberger had initially called for the files to be destroyed and not used in any way, particularly her time teaching at the Saudi-funded Islamic Saudi Academy in Alexandria, Va.
Spanberger is running in a competitive race against Republican Rep. David Brat, R-Va., to represent the Virginia’s 7th Congressional District.
