Democratic Party Is Asking the Pentagon for Dirt on Republican 2016 Candidates, Report Says

The Democratic Party has filed a flurry of public information requests with the Pentagon, looking for something damaging that could be used against Republican candidates like Sens. Marco Rubio (Fla.), Ted Cruz (Texas) and Rand Paul (Ky.), according to a report today.

Democrats are also targeting former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Carly Fiorina with their Freedom of Information Act requests, Politico reported.

The requests are focusing on candidates who likely corresponded with Defense Department officials during their years in previous public offices — so non-politicians like Donald Trump and Ben Carson are likely not included in the FIOA requests. (Fiorina is included because she once served on a Pentagon advisory board.) Democrats are trying to uncover letters that could be politically damaging — instances of lawmakers using their positions to advocate for constituents, donors or friends.

The Pentagon is shown in Virginia. (Photo credit: Shutterstock)

The Democratic National Committee sent in 11 requests to the Pentagon's main processing center in the past year, according to the report.

Rubio particularly may be a target, according to Politico:

[The requests] include demands for letters in which Rubio expressed concerns in 2011 about the Pentagon’s “purchasing practice” relating to a Miami-based company, as well as a 2013 letter from the Florida senator that the logs describe as a “request for assistance to sell beverage to U.S. armed forces.”

“We request public information from as many sources as possible,” DNC research Director Lauren Dillon said in the story. “This is simple due diligence.”