Congressman who retired as Army general calls on Walz to release his emails about military service

Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa.,  who retired as a general after four decades in the Army and National Guard, is calling on Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz to make public his emails and documents about his military service and deployments. 

"He should just release them if he is proud of his service [and] if he is proud of the things.....all of us, generally speaking, are proud of our uniform service......our military service, and [if] he is proud of those conversations and his decision making thoughts at that moment," Perry said Thursday on the John Solomon Reports podcast.

Walz, who is Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris's running mate, has received criticism from veterans and Republicans about his military service and has been accused of lying about his military record. 

He previously claimed that he retired from the Army National Guard as a "command sergeant major" on his Harris campaign biography, but the Harris campaign was since forced to correct his bio to reflect that he held the position at one point. He retired at a lower rank after being demoted.

The Minnesota National Guard confirmed that Walz was demoted and did not retire as a command sergeant major like he has claimed for years, including in his still-online official gubernatorial biography.

"He essentially just lied about the rank that he achieved because he never achieved that rank. He didn't retire at that rank," said Perry, who retired in 2019 from the National Guard as a brigadier general after four decades of Army service that included flying combat missions in Iraq.

Walz has also been accused of abandoning his National Guard battalion before deploying to Iraq in 2005.

"He's going to be willing to accept the good parts of service, but when it comes to the sacrifices that come with service, he's going to cut and run," Perry said. "You know how we know that? Because we've seen him do it."

A group of 50 Republican veterans in Congress on Wednesday signed a letter condemning Walz for being dishonest about his military service.

The letter was led by Florida GOP Rep. Brian Mast, who chairs the "Veterans and Military Families for Trump" coalition. 

“The Office of the Vice President is a position that requires the trust of the American people and a solemn commitment to duty on behalf of the United States of America,” the letter stated. “As veterans who have served our nation, we feel compelled to address your egregious misrepresentations and urge you to come clean to the American people.”

“You have stated that you are ‘damn proud’ of your service, and like any American veteran, you should be,” it continued. “But there is no honor in lying about the nature of your service. Repeatedly claiming to be a ‘Retired Command Sergeant Major’ when you did not complete the requirements was not honorable."

Walz is also currently under investigation by the House Oversight Committee for alleged connections to the Chinese Communist Party. 

"Mr. Walz has visited China 30 times, served as a fellow at a Chinese institution that maintains a devotion to the CCP, and spoke alongside the President of a Chinese organization the State Department exposed as a CCP effort to influence and co-opt local leaders," the House Oversight Committee wrote on the social media platform, X.