FIRST ON FOX – Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., is demanding that the Division of Veterans Affairs (VA) instantly hearth the a minimum of a dozen staff who reportedly improperly accessed the medical information of vice presidential candidates Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz this summer time.
Mast, chairman of Veterans For Trump, penned a letter urging VA Secretary Denis McDonough for a “swift response and motion to stop such egregious violations of privateness throughout the VA from occurring once more.” The Florida Republican can also be calling for the FBI to get entangled to research the potential of overseas election interference.
“I urge you to buck the worker union of the Division of Veterans Affairs (VA) and instantly hearth the workers who have been caught snooping into the personal medical information of Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz – who’re each operating to be vice chairman. VA staff know this isn’t permitted,” Mast wrote in a letter first obtained by Fox Information Digital. “As a combat-injured veteran, I depend on the VA for my medical care. This isn’t only a authorized misstep; it’s a breach that undermines veterans’ confidence within the VA and raises severe questions in regards to the professionalism of VA personnel.”
The Washington Put up first reported Monday that a minimum of 12 VA staff throughout the company’s well being administration have been underneath legal investigation after VA investigators found they improperly accessed the medical information of Vance and Walz. VA Inspector Basic Michael Missal’s workplace reportedly knowledgeable each candidates’ campaigns and shared proof with federal prosecutors associated to a number of of the well being system staff, together with a doctor and a contractor who “spent prolonged time” viewing the information of former President Trump and Vice President Harris’ operating mates.
VA EMPLOYEES IMPROPERLY ACCESSED JD VANCE, TIM WALZ’S MEDICAL RECORDS, PROMPTING CRIMINAL PROBE: REPORT
Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., speaks on the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 9, 2024, relating to competing studies on the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Pictures)
“Dismissing these staff and referring them to the Justice Division for prosecution, offered there’s proof that legal guidelines have been damaged, is step one the VA should take to revive credibility,” Mast wrote. “Moreover, I urge you to totally temporary Congress on how this violation of privateness transpired and implement new pointers to stop such acts from occurring sooner or later.”
Mast, a member of the Home International Affairs Committee, implored McDonough to coordinate with the FBI.
The letter comes every week after Trump’s marketing campaign mentioned he was briefed on “actual and particular threats” from Iran to assassinate the Republican presidential nominee.
“Given the latest overseas meddling in our elections – like Iran’s assassination plots in opposition to President Trump – I additionally request your division coordinate with the FBI to make sure Senator Vance and Governor Walz’s medical info was neither shared with overseas operatives nor accessed on their behalf,” Mast, who served within the U.S. Military for 12 years and misplaced each legs to catastrophic accidents endured whereas working as a bomb disposal skilled in Afghanistan, wrote. “Safeguarding delicate details about our public officers is important to nationwide safety and the integrity of our democracy.”
TRUMP REACTS TO ASSASSINATION PLOTS WITH BIG WARNING TO IRAN
The Division of Veterans Affairs constructing in Washington, DC, on July 22, 2019. (ALASTAIR PIKE/AFP through Getty Pictures)
Final month, specialists from the FBI, the Workplace of the Director of Nationwide Intelligence (ODNI) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Safety Company (CISA) issued a abstract of the present menace atmosphere citing how the “huge three overseas affect actors, Russia, Iran, and China are all attempting by some measure to exacerbate divisions in U.S. society for their very own profit, and see election intervals as moments of vulnerability.”
“Like Russia, Iran has a multi-pronged method that appears to stoke discord and undermine confidence in our electoral course of. Tehran has additionally sought cyber entry to people with direct ties to the presidential campaigns of each political events, whereas components have additionally denigrated the previous president,” they mentioned. “Iran has a set of instruments at its disposal, as demonstrated in latest studies outlining Iran’s cyber operations, together with the hack-and-leak operation in opposition to the previous president’s marketing campaign. Iran can also be conducting covert social media operations utilizing pretend personas, and is utilizing AI to assist publish inauthentic information articles.”
Fox Information Digital reached out to the VA and the FBI relating to Mast’s letter.
Concerning the Put up’s reporting on Monday, VA Press Secretary Terrence Hayes mentioned in a press release that the company “reported to legislation enforcement allegations that VA personnel could have improperly accessed Veteran information” and takes “the privateness of the Veterans we serve very significantly and have strict insurance policies in place to guard their information.”
“Any try and improperly entry Veteran information by VA personnel is unacceptable and won’t be tolerated,” Hayes wrote.
The potential motive for accessing the medical information is underneath investigation, and investigators are nonetheless attempting to find out if Vance and Walz’s info was shared because of the breaches, the Put up reported.
JD Vance and Tim Walz will debate one another Tuesday evening in New York Metropolis. (Getty Pictures )
The VA staff underneath investigation, together with the doctor and contractor, accessed the medical information utilizing their VA computer systems and did so largely from their authorities workplaces, sources advised the newspaper. Among the staffers in query reportedly advised investigators they have been merely curious to see the information of Vance and Walz given each candidates have defended their army information on the marketing campaign path.
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The Division of Justice declined to remark in regards to the report. The breach reportedly didn’t embrace entry to any incapacity compensation, which has extra safety protocols than well being info.
