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CV NEWS FEED // Multiple sources reported that 12 or more employees of the Biden-Harris administration’s Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recently improperly obtained the personal medical records of both Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz and Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance.
The Washington Post (WaPo) reported on Monday that, according to VA investigators, incident happened over the summer. WaPo’s report called the act a “violation of federal health privacy laws that is under criminal investigation.”
The news broke the day before the two men are set to face off in the 2024 vice presidential debate on Tuesday night.
Vance is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who served in the Iraq War. Walz was an officer in his state’s Army National Guard. Walz’s military record has fallen under increased scrutiny, including by fellow guardsmen who served alongside him.
Again from WaPo:
VA officials notified the Vance and Walz campaigns about the breaches after discovering the unauthorized viewing by employees at the agency’s massive health-care arm, the Veterans Health Administration, according to people familiar with the investigation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the ongoing investigation.
…
Investigators are trying to determine whether Walz or Vance’s health records have been shared as a result of the breach. The motives of those who looked at the information are under investigation, law enforcement officials said.
“The breach, which took place in July and August, was discovered in August during a security sweep of VA’s high-profile health accounts, which are periodically monitored by the agency,” the WaPo piece added.
In an email he sent in late August, Biden-Harris VA Secretary Denis McDonough stated: “Viewing a Veteran’s records out of curiosity or concern — or for any purpose that is not directly related to officially authorized and assigned duties — is strictly prohibited.”
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The New York Post noted there are “roughly 400,000 individuals who operate in the VA medical system which services over 9 million veterans across the country.”
FOX News indicated: “Some of the staffers in question reportedly told investigators they were simply curious to see the files of Vance and Walz given both candidates have defended their military records on the campaign trail.”
“Walz in particular faced criticism for ending his 24-year career in the Army National Guard to run for Congress months before his unit would deploy to Iraq,” FOX’s report added.
In August – one of the months during which the VA breach reportedly took place – Vance called Walz’s 2018 remark that he carried weapons “in war” an example of “stolen valor.” Walz had never served in an active war zone.
As CatholicVote then reported, Vance
noted that his opponent “has not spent a day in a combat zone,” and slammed Walz’s remarks as “stolen valor garbage.”
“Do not pretend to be something that you’re not,” Vance said. “I’d be ashamed if I was him and I lied about my military service like he did.”
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“When the United States of America asked me to go to Iraq to serve my country, I did it,” Vance added at the time. “I did what they asked me to do and I did it honorably, and I’m very proud of that service.”
Harris-Walz campaign officials maintained that the Minnesota Democrat “misspoke” when he made his now-viral “in war” comment.
