Washington lawmakers have written off Jack Teixeira, the 21-year-old air national guardsman accused of being behind the worst US intelligence leak in a decade, as an \u201calleged criminal\u201d after his arrest yesterday, but that hasn\u2019t stopped him from winning praise from the political right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe revealed the crimes, therefore he\u2019s the criminal. That\u2019s how Washington works. Telling the truth is the only real sin,\u201d declared the Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson on Thursday evening in the opening monologue of his show, which is the most watched on cable television. \u201cThe news media are celebrating the capture of the kid who told Americans what\u2019s actually happening in Ukraine. They are treating him like Osama bin Laden,\u201d the late al-Qaida terrorist leader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Family and friends of Jack Teixeira leave the courthouse in Boston.
Jack Teixeira, suspect in Pentagon leaks, charged under Espionage Act
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Federal prosecutors allege Teixeira took secret documents from the Massachusetts air national guard base where he worked as a low-ranking cyber specialist and posted them online. They first appeared on one of the gaming messaging platform Discord\u2019s servers in January before spreading to other social media sites and being reported on by news outlets earlier this month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shortly after he was taken into custody in Massachusetts on Thursday, the far-right congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene \u2013 who has persistently called for the Joe Biden White House and Washington in general to cut off support to Kyiv \u2013 rallied to his defense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cJake Teixeira is white, male, christian, and anti-war. That makes him an enemy to the Biden regime. And he told the truth about troops being on the ground in Ukraine and a lot more,\u201d she tweeted in an apparent reference to one of the leaked documents that indicates 14 US special forces soldiers were present in Ukraine during the past two months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAsk yourself who is the real enemy? A young low level national guardsmen [sic]? Or the administration that is waging war in Ukraine, a non-Nato nation, against nuclear Russia without war powers?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other documents have revealed details of how the United States gathers its information and how deeply its intelligence agencies have penetrated Russia\u2019s military. Also among the leaked material is a pessimistic assessment of Ukraine\u2019s prospects of recapturing territory from Russia this spring \u2013 a subject Carlson seized on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cUkraine is in fact losing the war,\u201d he said, citing other documents that indicate Washington\u2019s concerns about Kyiv\u2019s ability to defend its airspace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Biden administration is perfectly aware of this. They\u2019re panicked about it, but they have lied about this fact to the public. Just two weeks ago, for example, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told the US Senate that Russian military power is \u2018waning\u2019. In other words, Russia is losing the war. That was a lie. He knew it was when he said it, but he repeated it in congressional testimony. That is a crime, but Lloyd Austin has not been arrested for committing that crime.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Congressional Republicans adopted a comparatively sober view of Teixeira\u2019s arrest. He made his first court appearance on Friday in Boston and learned he was facing two charges under the Espionage Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLeaking classified information jeopardizes our national security, negatively impacts our relationship with our allies, and places the safety of US military and intelligence personnel at grave risk,\u201d the House intelligence committee chair, Mike Turner, said in a statement. \u201cWhile we seek to learn the extent of classified information released and how to mitigate the fallout, the House intelligence committee will examine why this happened, why it went unnoticed for weeks, and how to prevent future leaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCongratulations to law enforcement for locating and apprehending the alleged criminal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Democrats generally kept their thoughts about Teixeira\u2019s arrest to themselves. While visiting Ireland, Biden took an administrative tone in a brief statement issued on Friday afternoon: \u201cI commend the rapid action taken by law enforcement to investigate and respond to the recent dissemination of classified US government documents. While we are still determining the validity of those documents, I have directed our military and intelligence community to take steps to further secure and limit distribution of sensitive information, and our national security team is closely coordinating with our partners and allies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The best indication of where the aftershocks from Teixeira\u2019s arrest could be felt next came from the Republican speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy. His congressional allies have made investigating the Biden administration\u2019s alleged misdeeds a priority, and in a tweet, he said the leaks would be their next focus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Biden administration has failed to secure classified information,\u201d he tweeted. \u201cThrough our committees, Congress will get answers as to why they were asleep at the switch.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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