Senator Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) on Sunday offered a strong rebuke of Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene’s support for Jack Teixeira, the 21-year-old intelligence operative with the Massachusetts Air National Guard who was recently arrested for allegedly leaking classified military documents.
The top secret documents included information about the war in Ukraine, among other things. Teixeira has been charged with violating the Espionage Act.
Greene responded to news of Teixeira’s arrest on Thursday in a tweet: “Jake Teixeira is white, male, christian, and antiwar. 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.”
Jake Teixeira is white, male, christian, and antiwar.
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.
Ask yourself who is the real enemy?
A young low level national guardsmen?
Or the…
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) April 13, 2023
“Ask yourself who is the real enemy?” she added. “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?”
Graham called Greene’s comments “irresponsible.”
“If you’re a member of the military intelligence community and you disagree with American policy and you think you’re going to be okay when it comes to leaking classified information, you’re going to go to jail,” Graham said during an appearance on ABC’s This Week.
“It’s one of the most irresponsible statements she could make,” he added.
The leaked documents about the conflict in Ukraine led some Republicans to double down on their calls for the U.S. to pull back its support for Ukraine. Graham dismissed these suggestions.
“What they’re suggesting will destroy America’s ability to defend itself,” Graham said. “That it’s OK to release classified information based on your political views. That the ends justify the means. And for any member of Congress to suggest it’s OK to leak classified information because you agree with the cause is terribly irresponsible and puts America in serious danger.”
Greene has been a vocal critic of the United States’ support for Ukraine. In February, she reintroduced legislation to audit the military aid the U.S. has sent Ukraine in the year since Russia first invaded. She told Fox News that the United States’ continued investment in Ukraine could lead the U.S. into World War III.
She was one of ten Republican lawmakers to co-sponsor legislation by Representative Matt Gaetz (R., Fla.) in February to end U.S. aid to Ukraine. Meanwhile, on the one-year anniversary of the Russian invasion, the Biden administration announced a $10 billion aid package to support the Ukrainian government in addition to $2 billion in military aid.