Lindsey Graham calls fellow Republican ‘irresponsible’ for defending Pentagon leaker

Senator Lindsey Graham condemned his fellow Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene as "terribly irresponsible" on Sunday, after the far-right congresswoman defended the air national guardsman charged with leaking Pentagon intelligence documents.

Speaking on ABC's This Week show, Graham said the leaks had "done a lot of damage to our standing" and criticized "those who are trying to sugarcoat this on the right".

Taylor Greene, a known conspiracy theorist and election denier who was controversially named to the homeland security committee in January, had suggested on Thursday that Jack Teixeira, an airman in the air national guard who has been charged under the Espionage Act after allegedly leaking hundreds of secret defence documents, had been treated unfairly.

"There are military members serving today from Georgia and other places who are less safe because of what this airman did," Graham told ABC.

"There is no justification for this, 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."

Teixeira published at least 300 documents, according to reports, to the Discord messaging platform. Some of the documents included details on Ukraine's defense capabilities, while others pointed to how US intelligence has infiltrated the Russian military and appeared to show US spying on close allies including Ukraine, South Korea and Israel.

After Teixeira was arrested at his home in North Dighton, Massachusetts, on Thursday, Taylor Greene said he had been targeted by the government.