US Intel Leak Was Fueled by Pro-Russian Social Account
New information has been revealed about last week's leak of highly sensitive U.S. intelligence documents by a low-level National Guard Airman.
Many of those leaked documents dealt with Ukraine's ability to keep up the fight against the Russian invasion. Now The Wall Street Journal reports the documents were spread across the internet by a pro-Russian social account – an account overseen by a former non-commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy.
That account was reportedly responsible for taking the documents from a private room on a social media platform and re-posting them to more public places.
The Journal reports the account, which is translated as "Donbas Girl", fronts for a network of pro-Kremlin social media and fundraising accounts.
Thursday, officials arrested 21-year-old Jack Teixeira – a member of the Massachusetts National Guard – for stealing the documents and posting copies in a private chat room. He's charged with violating the Espionage Act.
On ABC's this week, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham (R), a former Air Force officer, said people should lose their jobs over the breach because Teixeira should never have been able to come anywhere close to the intelligence that he accessed.
"I was a captain and a major. I would be surprised if I had that kind of information. Yes. The system failed. This is a major failure," Sen. Graham said. "Some people need to be fired over this."
Graham made those comments from Jerusalem on Sunday during a Middle East trip. He said he's also been to Saudi Arabia and that the leaks have hurt U.S. relations in the region.
