FOIA Advisor

FOIA News: As expected, USPS concedes fault for releasing candidate's SF-86

Allan BlutsteinComment

Postal Service Accepts Blame for Release of Candidate’s Security File, and Asks for It Back

By Michael Tackett, NY Times, Aug. 30, 2018

WASHINGTON — The Postal Service on Thursday said it “deeply regrets our mistake in inappropriately releasing” the official personnel file of Abigail Spanberger, a former C.I.A. operative now running as Democratic candidate for Congress, and requested that a Republican-aligned super PAC return the file.

“We take full responsibility for this unfortunate error, and we have taken immediate steps to ensure this will not happen again,” David Partenheimer, a Postal Service spokesman, said in a statement. He added, “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.”

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