Editor’s Note: Patrick G. Eddington, a former CIA analyst and House senior policy adviser, is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute. The opinions expressed in this commentary are the writer’s. View more opinion on CNN.
CNN —
On Thursday, FBI agents in full combat gear and driving an armored car arrested Massachusetts Air National Guard Airman First Class Jack Teixeira for leaking dozens of classified U.S. government documents via the social media app Discord. The scandal has prompted the Air Force to strip Teixeira’s unit, the 102nd Intelligence Wing, of its intelligence support mission pending an inspector general inquiry.
Some of the reactions to Teixeira’s alleged actions have been, to put it charitably, unhinged.
The day after Teixeira’s arrest, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) sent a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin asserting Teixeira was “a whistleblower exposing the corruption of the Biden Administration.” Fox News host Tucker Carlson proclaimed, “He revealed the crimes, therefore he’s the criminal. That’s how Washington works. Telling the truth is the only real sin.”
It is a distortion of the concept of whistleblower and truth-telling to describe what is alleged about Teixeira’s actions that way.
Whistleblowing, according to America’s executive branch of government, involves “disclosing information that you reasonably believe is evidence of a violation of any law, rule, or regulation; gross mismanagement; a gross waste of funds; an abuse of authority; or...
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