A federal judge rules that the US airman accused of leaking top-secret documents will remain in jail pending trial due to ongoing risk to national security.
a top secret security clearance. the justice department says just a few months ago, he wanted to, quote, kill a blank ton of people. allegedly asked a user for tips on carrying out a mass shooting. court documents allege that a pennant with the military staff as you see there was found hanging in the suspect s bedroom. joining us is democratic congressman jim himes. thank you for taking the time today. thanks for having me, jim. given the failures here and you have been watching this closely and as a member of the intelligence committee, you have been briefed on this, and worntding how this could happen. we have seen breaches particularly in the defense department. did d.o.d. fail not just in this case, a failure here, but in its broader standards and protocols for granting security clearances? you know, i think it is not nearly the system it needs to be, and the list of things that we need to do as a congress and
The FBI is so zealous in its efforts to arrest anyone even remotely connected to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol Building that it's placing innocent people on a "domestic [.]
military, and i m glad they did not. he was able to get that firearms i.d. because the air force had given him a top secret security clearance. obviously if the government if the military is entrusting him with some of the nation s biggest secrets, he should be able to buy a gun. it raises questions again, about oversight, how these clearances are awarded and how red flags, it seems, are missed. just like millions of dollars spent to try to prevent things like this. exactly, and past expertise is no question. thanks so much. let s expand the conversation. we have with us former assistant homeland security secretary juliet, a cnn national security analyst, and josh rogen with us, a columnist at the washington post. let s start with the point that jim and evan were just making. violent racist remarks in his history, he was suspended at one point, and yet, he gets top security clearance. i m not excusing him, but there are lots of things people do when they re 16 that later
dangerous? he had a number of firearms, and he was outfitted with camouflage and tactical gear he painted a picture of a person who has been emotionally disturbed going back to high school, talking about a molotov cocktail the local police denied him a gun permit wouldn t let him have a license to get a gun he got a top secret security clearance in the airport they re also saying that he may have access to a lot more classified information than already has been made public they re concerned about that they re concerned that a foreign power could help him escape, and they think he s a flight risk. he s facing 25 years in prison and therefore should be held without bond the defense presented an entirely different picture of a person who they say is a law-abiding 21-year-old with no criminal record and supportive family in the area they want him to stay at his