The death penalty for treason isn’t used enough.
An Army specialist with top-secret security clearance has been charged with attempting to give potentially damaging information to one of the United States’ most powerful global rivals.
According to a Justice Department news release published Wednesday, 22-year-old Taylor Adam Lee, based at Fort Bliss in Texas, thought he was communicating with representatives of Russia when he offered to “transmit” information about “weaknesses” of the M1A2 Abrams Tank.
“This arrest is an alarming reminder of the serious threat facing our U.S. Army,” one general said.
“Thanks to the hard work of Army Counterintelligence Command Special Agents and our FBI partners, Soldiers who violate their oath and become insider threats will absolutely be caught and brought to justice, and we will continue to protect Army personnel and safeguard equipment,” Brigadier Gen. Sean F. Stinchon, commanding general of Army Counterintelligence Command, said in the news release.
According to the release, Lee is charged with “attempted transmission of national defense information to a foreign adversary and attempted export of controlled technical data without a license.”
Beginning in May, the release stated, Lee sought to make contact with the Russian Ministry of Defense.
In June, according to the release, he transmitted information about the tank online and stated, “the USA is not happy with me for trying to expose their weaknesses.”
“At this point I’d even volunteer to assist the Russian federation when I’m there in any way,” he said, according to the release.
The release did not give details about how Lee was investigated, but he was apparently caught in a sting operation.
It alleged that in July, Lee met with a person “he believed to be a representative of the Russian government” and handed over a computer memory card — known as an “SD card” — that contained “documents and information on the M1A2 Abrams, another armored fighting vehicle used by the U.S. military, and combat operations.”
“Several of these documents contained controlled technical data that Lee did not have the authorization to provide,” the release stated.
At that meeting, Lee discussed obtaining and delivering a specific piece of hardware from the Abrams, according to the release.
On July 31, the release stated, Lee delivered what he apparently thought was the hardware to a storage unit in nearby El Paso.
He then sent a two-word message to the individual he thought was a Russian government operative, according to the release:
“Mission accomplished.”
……that information about the tank would have been particularly important for the Russian military because the U.S. has provided a version of the Abrams to Ukraine for its war against the Russian invasion.
Taylor Adam Lee
The fucking traitor is a tank crewman assigned to the 1st Armored Division.
The DOJ’s report, here: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/active-duty-soldier-arrested-and-charged-espionage-and-export-violations
When it comes to treason, Lee is in good company.
Jack Teixeira, 21-year-old Massachusetts Air National Guardsman, posted highly sensitive Pentagon documents online and was privy to weekly intelligence briefings — despite the fact that he was only meant to maintain HVAC units and answer phones,
A U.S. Navy nuclear submarine engineer and his wife were arrested and charged with espionage after selling sensitive data to an undercover FBI agent posing as a representative of a foreign government. The wife is a left-wing activist who hates Trump.
A male U.S. Army major masquerading as a female and his wife, a Johns Hopkins anesthesiologist, were arrested after being federally indicted for scheming to pass sensitive health information obtained under secret-level security clearance to Russia.
A US Army PFC was sentenced to 14 years for attempting to provide material support to ISIS and attempting to murder U.S. military service members.
A former senior advisor to the Federal Reserve was arrested for spying for the ChiComs.
An IT specialist at the DIA was arrested for attempting to give national defense information to an unnamed foreign government.
Every one of them should be put in front of a firing squad.
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