Republican presidential candidate Lindsey Graham is rebutting a new report in the Washington Post that scrutinized his time in the military.
“The article in the Washington Post is nothing but a political hit job of the very worst kind,” the Graham campaign said in a statement on Monday. “Using anonymous sources and salacious headlines, The Washington Post has buried the truth of Senator Graham’s distinguished and honorable service in the United States Air Force.”
The story by Post reporter Craig Whitlock charged that Graham, who served in the U.S. Air Force, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve, “moved up in [the] Air Force Reserve ranks despite light duties.”
“[A] detailed examination of Graham’s military record — much of it obtained under the Freedom of Information Act — shows that the Air Force afforded him special treatment as a lawmaker, granting him the privileges of rank with few expectations in return,” the story said.
The story also accuses Graham of offering “inaccurate public descriptions of his job assignment, records show.”
It quotes some anonymous sources, said to be active-duty Air Force lawyers, critical of Graham’s service.
“The Post has chosen to bury the facts behind quotes from unnamed sources and absurd, un-representative headlines to generate clicks and sell newspapers,” the Graham campaign said in response to the article, which Graham did grant an interview for. “It is journalism at its worse [sic].”
Graham is considered to be a top candidate for the GOP presidential nomination. He is, however, polling in 15th place of an average of national polls by RealClearPolitics.
In an email to the Washington Examiner media desk, Whitlock, the Post reporter, said Graham’s campaign “did not dispute any of the facts in the article.”
