Lindsey Graham calls Marjorie Taylor Greene's comments on document leak suspect 'irresponsible'

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) called statements made by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) defending the suspected leaker of U.S. intelligence documents "irresponsible."

On Thursday, 21-year-old Jack Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, was arrested in connection with the leak, and later charged with possessing classified documents pertaining to national security and possessing national defense materials. The material included top-secret documents on the war in Ukraine and intelligence gathered on Israel and South Korea.

Greene, a member of the House's Homeland Security Committee, tweeted that the suspect is "being treated like a traitor and criminal," and accused the Biden administration and Department of Defense of "acting like criminals."

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This is "one of the most irresponsible statements she could make," Graham said during an interview with ABC News' This Week on Sunday, adding, "If you're a member of the military intelligence 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." Military members are "less safe" because of the leak, he continued, and "there is no justification for this. And for any member of Congress to suggest it's okay to leak classified information because you agree with the cause is terribly irresponsible and puts America in serious danger."

On Fox News Sunday, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) said the suspect is being called "a traitor" by some and "a hero" by others, but "neither side has the information or the data to be able to make that decision yet, because there's been no investigation, and we haven't even had our first classified briefing, which will happen later this week when we're back in session."

The Senate Intelligence Committee will also open an investigation into the leak, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) said Sunday on CNN's State of the Union. The committee has focused "intensely on how we keep our secrets safe," she stated. "And I have a lot of questions about why were these documents lying around. Why did this particular person have access to them? Where was the custody of the documents, and who were they for? We need to know the facts. We need to know who this airman was, why he felt he had the authority or ability to show off confidential documents, secret documents to his friends."