Jennifer Ruth-Green accuses Frank Mrvan of leaking assault report stating she was sexually assaulted
CROWN POINT, INDIANA: Jennifer-Ruth Green, the Republican candidate for Indiana's first Congressional District, blasted the publishing of military records that revealed she was sexually assaulted. She said after giving an interview with Politico, the magazine published details without her permission and accused her opponent Rep Frank Mrvan of illegally obtaining the information and sharing it with the outlet.
Published last week, Politico reporter Adam Wren used the documents while claiming they "were obtained by a public records request and provided to Politico by a person outside the Mrvan campaign." The report read, "Green says an Iraqi serviceman sexually assaulted her by grabbing her breast and exposing himself. She said she was advised not to report the assault by a staff sergeant, who was also a military equal opportunity representative."
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Talking to Fox News Digital, Ruth-Green, a lieutenant colonel and commander and chief information officer who has experience of over 20 years of military service, said, "The reality of it is – like I said at one point in my life to my assailant, 'No. Please stop. Don't.' – and he did what he wanted to do … This is the exact same situation all over again, all because there was a man who wanted some sort of gratification. Congressman Frank Mrvan gets his gratification of trying to think he's smearing my name. Adam Wren gets his gratification of thinking he's going to get a good smear story out of it. And all it does is essentially reopen wounds for victims." "I'm surprised because Adam Wren spent time in this article focusing on every single detail down to the skirt I was wearing, down to the color of the skirt I was wearing, down to every single knob I touched, all of those things, but yet he writes clinically about one of the worst days of my life," she said.
'Politically motivated'
Ruth-Green wrote a letter to the US attorney, the Air Force Inspector General and the Department of Defense to request a criminal investigation into how the documents were provided to the outlet. She wrote, "I write to request an investigation into the unauthorized, unlawful release of my Air Force personnel file. The fact that my file has been leaked in the course of my campaign for United States Congress leads me to believe that it was politically motivated." She mentioned that she "did not consent, in writing or otherwise, to the disclosure of my personnel file to Politico or anyone else." She also pointed to the Data Protection Act 1974 that her file should not have been released.
Talking about it further with Fox News, she said, "I believe Congressman Frank Mrvan illegally obtained those documents and was floating them around to press. That's what our political team told us, that they were farming it out to several different press outlets to see who could write a very disgusting, ugly smear piece against me with the intent to paint me as a disgraced military officer."
Commenting on the report, Brad Dayspring, VP of Marketing and Communications for Politico said, "This story is an incredibly nuanced, deeply reported piece that looks at the totality of Ms Green’s military career, which her team has placed at the forefront of her campaign. The military records in question are publicly available documents that can be obtained by a standard FOIA request. Further, her campaign team provided additional documentation of the incidents described in the story, which included new information that helped shape what was published."
Who is Jennifer Ruth-Green?
Born to Vivian and Paul R Green Jr, Ruth-Green is the youngest of six children. At 18, she joined the US Air Force, just like her father and grandfather. She is both a licensed flight instructor, a commercial pilot and one of fewer than 150 African-American professional female pilots in the US, according to her official website.
Ruth-Green was sent to Baghdad to support Operation Iraqi Freedom, where she served as mission commander, directed counterintelligence operations, and rose to the position of deputy chief for nuclear command following her deployment. In addition to this, she established the MissionAero Pipeline, which works to connect with at-risk adolescents and change their lives by motivating them to pursue careers in STEM.
Ruth-Green has a BS in Asian Area Studies from the United States Air Force Academy, BS in Aeronautics from Liberty University and is currently enrolled in Air War College, studying strategic leadership across military operations, in joint, interagency, and multinational environments.