A conservative watchdog group says they have uncovered private opposition research files compiled by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on dozens of Republican candidates for Congress that accidentally ended up on Google.

The group, Media Trackers, said they found the files -- which include research on Florida Rep. Allen West -- online because of an “IT glitch on the DCCC’s web server that allowed Google searches for opposition research terms related to Republican candidates to pull the files up.”

The group released 12 of the files they uncovered on its website Thursday.

“This could be the single biggest political intelligence coup of the 2012 battle for Congress,” said Brian Sikma, a spokesman for Media Trackers. “The twelve files we are releasing today are not available on the DCCC website and the intended timing of their release -- if at all -- by Democrats is not known.”

Other Republicans included in the uncovered files include New York Republican Nan Hayworth and California Rep. Dan Lungren.

Sikma said the information provides “provide a treasure trove of information outlining likely lines of attack that Democratic candidates will use against Republicans.”

“More important than the actual information though is that the DCCC’s server had an IT flaw that exposed sensitive files to Google,” he said. “There is probably no way to know the extent of how many files -- opposition research or otherwise -- that have been compromised.”

A spokesman for the DCCC did not immediately return a request for comment.

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Editor's Note: A rare glimps into the Progressive smear machine...


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