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Jim Jordan says YouTube ‘censored’ Joe Rogan interview with Trump

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, is accusing YouTube of potentially repressing former President Trump’s interview with podcast host Joe Rogan. In a letter to Alphabet CEO Sundar Pitchai sent late Wednesday, Jordan said the tech giant’s subsidiary “appears to have censored the video of Joe Rogan’s recent interview with President Donald Trump.” “We write to seek an immediate briefing on (1) YouTube’s decision to censor Joe Rogan’s interview with President Trump; and (2) Google Search’s elevation of material critical of the interview,” Jordan wrote. TOP PUERTO RICAN OFFICIAL ENDORSES FORMER PRESIDENT AFTER COMIC’S RALLY SET RUFFLES FEATHERS The Ohio Republican cited a New York Post report that said people were having difficulty finding the three-hour interview on YouTube. “Recent news coverage reports that ‘search[es] on YouTube using the terms ‘Joe Rogan Trump’ or ‘Joe Rogan Donald Trump’ did not bring up Friday’s three-hour sit-down at the top of the list,’” the letter said The report claimed the full interview was also “absent” from YouTube’s trending videos page the following day. Jordan also said YouTube acknowledged “censorship” of the interview, referring to a statement posted to X earlier this week that read, “For some searches on Monday the original 3-hour interview didn’t appear prominently. Short excerpts uploaded by the Joe Rogan channel appeared, but we know it was frustrating for users looking to find the full video.” BIDEN CALLS TRUMP SUPPORTERS ‘GARBAGE’ DURING HARRIS CAMPAIGN EVENT AS VP PROMISES UNITY AT ELLIPSE RALLY “We’ve worked to resolve this and viewers will begin seeing the full podcast in more YouTube search results soon,” the statement said. Jordan wrote in his letter to Alphabet, “Americans deserve access to political speech, especially in the closing weeks before an election.” “Given the company’s recent history of censorship, including at the behest of the Biden-Harris Administration, YouTube’s censorship of former President Trump is particularly troubling,” he wrote. “Please arrange for this briefing as soon as possible, but no later than 10:00 am on November 14, 2024.” SLOTKIN SLAMS FELLOW DEM BIDEN FOR ‘GARBAGE’ GAFFE AMID HEATED SENATE BATTLE Republicans have accused Google of censoring speech in the past. Most recently, the attorney general of Missouri said he would investigate the company, though Google called the accusations “totally false” in a statement to Reuters. As of late Wednesday evening, Rogan’s interview with Trump has over 41 million views on YouTube. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Indian, Chinese troops at LAC exchange Diwali sweets after border disengagement

This comes amid the disengagement process in LAC (Line of Actual Control) in eastern Ladakh by the two armies

Early in-person voting launches in Kentucky, last day of early voting in Maryland

Kentucky kicks off early in-person voting on Thursday as the nation sits just five days away from Election Day. Meanwhile, Maryland concludes its early-voting today at 8 p.m. Here is everything you need know about early-voting in Kentucky and Maryland. Voters will decide on several closely watched down-ballot races in addition to the presidential race. For a full list of competitive elections, see the latest Senate and House rankings. The last time the state voted for a Republican senator was 1980, but former Gov. Larry Hogan tied Democrat challenger Angela Alsobrooks in a recent poll and has put forth a set of moderate policy proposals without raising the ire of former President Trump. Hogan, a Republican, has been a vocal critic of Trump. Alsobrooks is leaning on her experience as a county executive and prosecutor, and the state’s heavily blue tilt gives her an edge.  The race is ranked Lean D in the Fox News Power Rankings. Democrat April McClain Delaney faces Republican Neil Parrott in what should be safe territory for Democrats. The race is ranked Likely D in the Power Rankings. This is a guide to registration and early voting. For comprehensive and up-to-date information on voter eligibility, processes and deadlines, please go to Vote.gov and the election website for Kentucky. Absentee voting began earlier this month in Kentucky. Residents do not need to provide an excuse to receive a ballot. Applicants must have sent a request for a ballot by Oct. 21, and those ballots must be delivered to state officials by Nov. 5. TRUMP ADVISER UNPACKS WHY FORMER PRESIDENT IS HOLDING RALLY IN DEEP-BLUE STATE WEEKS FROM ELECTION Kentucky began early in-person voting on Thursday, and it will continue through Nov. 2. The deadline for registering to vote in Kentucky was Oct. 7. This is a guide to registration and early voting. For comprehensive and up-to-date information on voter eligibility, processes, and deadlines, please go to Vote.gov and the election website for Maryland.  Early in-person voting Absentee ballots can be returned in person through Election Day. Early voting runs through Oct. 31. Maryland began absentee voting in late September. Applicants do not need to provide an excuse to receive a ballot. Voters had until Oct. 29 to receive a ballot application, and that ballot must be delivered to county officials by Nov. 5.

Trump stop in blue-leaning state could boost Republican bid to flip Democrat-held Senate seat

The Republican Senate nominee in New Mexico says former President Trump’s stop in the blue-leaning southwestern state on Thursday “will infuse our state with a lot of momentum.” Nella Domenici, the 2024 GOP Senate nominee and the daughter of New Mexico’s last Republican senator, is trying to defeat Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich, who is running in November for a third six-year term, as her party works to win back the chamber’s majority. “Trump is definitely going to help us with the independents,” Domenici predicted in a Fox News Digital interview on the eve of the former president’s visit to the state.  With five days until Election Day next Tuesday, the former president is making a rare detour from campaigning in the seven crucial battleground states in the White House race that will likely determine if Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris wins the 2024 election. WHY TRUMP IS MAKING LAST MINUTE STOPS AHEAD OF ELECTION DAY IN BLUE-LEANING STATES It’s been two decades since a Republican carried New Mexico in a presidential election. You’ve got to go back to President George W. Bush’s 2004 re-election. There hasn’t been an abundance of polling in New Mexico, but most recent surveys indicate Harris with an upper single digit lead over Trump, although one survey suggests a tighter contest for the state’s five electoral votes. With time such a precious commodity for presidential campaigns and the clock quickly ticking toward Election Day, New Mexico Democrats say Trump’s trip to the state – his first in five years – is a fool’s errand. WHAT THE MOST RECENT FOX NEWS POLLS SHOW IN THE HARRIS-TRUMP SHOWDOWN “Trump is wasting his time coming to our state as polling shows New Mexicans are set to reject his MAGA extremism and divisive rhetoric yet again,” Democratic Party of New Mexico spokesperson Daniel Garcia claimed in a statement. And referring to the Oct. 31st stop in Albuquerque by the former president, Garcia took a verbal shot at Trump, saying “a rotund orange mass will be in Albuquerque on Halloween, and we’re not talking about a pumpkin.” But Domenici, who’s trying to narrow the gap with Heinrich, sees down-ballot benefits to Trump’s stop at the airport in Albuquerque, the state’s largest city. “People are really excited to have Trump come here,” she told Fox News. “It definitely excites the base hugely and the base is kind of a growing term.” CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS IN THE 2024 ELECTION Domenici argued that “we have so many problems in our state that finally people are saying ‘I give up on the Democrats and I want to be a Republican’ and it’s happening every day, every week, of this race. “A lot of Hispanic Democrats are coming over to our side. They’re mad that the cost of living is so high. They’re mad that crime is everywhere. You can’t even go get gas in your car at night,” Domenici claimed. “There’s a lot of momentum for people to want to vote Republican.” Domenici has decades of experience in the finance industry at Bridgewater Associates (where she served as chief financial officer), Credit Suisse and Citadel Investment group. She’s also the daughter of the late longtime Republican Sen. Pete Domenici, who served for 36 years in the Senate before retiring at the beginning of 2009 at the end of his sixth term. The legacy of her father, who died in 2017, gives the younger Domenici a powerful political brand and plenty of name recognition in New Mexico. “My family’s name has absolutely helped me a huge amount. It’s because my father’s legacy is so deeply appreciated here by multiple generations,” she emphasized. “A lot of people still have very warm hearts for him.” Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Biden finalizes crackdown on US military tech investments in China with one week to lame duck session

The Treasury Department finalized a crackdown that will prevent the U.S. from investing in the development of military technologies in China this week. Hawks say the rule is “long overdue” and not broad enough, while some are skeptical of taking U.S. investment power out of China. The rule prohibits U.S. financing of some China-based ventures and requires Americans to notify the government of their involvement in others.  It restricts and monitors American investments in artificial intelligence, computer chips and quantum computing, all of which have a dual use in the defense and commercial sectors.  ELON MUSK WANTS PEOPLE TO SUBMIT THEIR MEDICAL SCANS TO GROK, HIS AI CHATBOT The rule seeks to limit the access “countries of concern” like China, including Hong Kong and Macao, have to U.S. dollars to fund the development of high-level technologies like next-generation missile systems and fighter jets they could then utilize for their own military. It’s set to take effect Jan. 2.   “Artificial intelligence, semiconductors and quantum technologies are fundamental to the development of the next-generation of military, surveillance, intelligence and certain cybersecurity applications like cutting-edge code-breaking computer systems or next-generation fighter jets,” said Paul Rosen, assistant secretary of the Treasury.  “This final rule takes targeted and concrete measures to ensure that U.S. investment is not exploited to advance the development of key technologies by those who may use them to threaten our national security.”  Existing U.S. regulations restrict the export of such products to China and other “countries of concern,” and the new regulation cracks down on U.S. dollars pouring into such countries.  The rule, finalized after a public comment period, builds on President Biden’s 2023 executive order. In one category, it will allow the Treasury to investigate and ban transactions that pose “a particularly acute national security threat because of [their] potential to significantly advance the military, intelligence, surveillance, or cyber-enabled capabilities of a country of concern.” CHINA WILL DOUBLE ITS NUCLEAR ARSENAL TO OVER 1,000 WARHEADS BY 2030, ACCORDING TO US INTELLIGENCE It would also create a category of “notifiable transactions” that the government would monitor, those that “may contribute to the threat to the national security of the United States identified in the Order.” Blocking China’s ambitions for tech supremacy is one of few bipartisan priorities in Washington. But not everyone is on board with the new rule. “The most well-known proponent of restricting American investment in China is, of course, Xi Jinping,” said Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., chair of the House Financial Services Committee. “I remain skeptical of a sectoral approach to regulating outbound investment. U.S. outbound investment to acquire Chinese companies enjoys overwhelming bipartisan support, as proven most recently by congressional action to wrest control of TikTok away from ByteDance.” The chairman, who is retiring, added, “To have a strong, immediate and global impact on the CCP’s ability to wage war, policymakers in Congress and the administration must embrace our time-tested sanctions regime. I will continue to oppose efforts that unwittingly advance Chairman Xi’s crackdown on Western influence in China, and I look forward to examining this rulemaking in more detail.” But others argue the rule is not nearly strong enough. It allows Americans to invest in publicly traded Chinese companies or participate in venture capital or private equity funds with stakes worth up to $2 million. “I think that this was a step forward, but, at the same time, it was a missed opportunity to signal deterrence towards China that we will not continue to fund their economy when they’re going to use their economic and military strength to go after Taiwan, to go after the Philippines, to go after Japan, to go after all of our friends and even military allies,” Michael Lucci, founder of global security firm State Armor, told Fox News Digital.  The rule “should be broader than just these three categories” of AI, quantum computing and semiconductors, said Lucci.  CHINA GOING AFTER DOWN-BALLOT RACES: REPORT REVEALS WHICH LAWMAKERS ARE IN THEIR CROSSHAIRS He criticized McHenry’s stance on the rule and said it rang similar to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s calls for American investment in China. “Chairman McHenry’s limp-wristed approach to China’s economic warfare upon America is pathetic. He remains in thrall to the long-discredited idea that we will somehow turn China into a liberal democracy if we keep dumping our money into their economy and propping up their hard-core Marxist regime,” he said.  “Now, China is once again courting investment because Xi Jinping desperately needs U.S. capital to bail out China’s stagnating economy. America needs to stop playing this game and instead broadly divest from the CCP.” But a House Republican aide familiar with outbound investments argued the U.S. should want Americans at the forefront of technology development in other countries.  “You want Americans controlling a company. You want Americans on the board. You want Americans having insights into the technologies that are being developed. And these are the very same arguments behind wanting American investors to own shares and to acquire control over a company like Tiktok, which is also a Chinese technology company,” the aide said.  “China is the world’s largest exporter of capital. It certainly does not need dollars, and if we are concerned about these technologies being developed, the proper response is to kill any company that poses a threat to America’s national security, and the way you do that is either through sanctions or through export controls.”  U.S. investment in China has been on the decline for years amid a cooling of relations between the two world powers. U.S. venture capital in China reached a 10-year low of $1.3 billion in 2022, down from $14.4 billion in 2018, according to the Rhodium Group.  Others criticized the Biden administration for waiting until the week before the election to finalize such a rule.  Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., the China select committee chair, called the new rule a “long overdue step.”  “More must be done to ensure American money no longer fuels the Chinese Communist Party’s military build-up, its

Bulk of truckers back Trump and are wary of a Harris presidency, says big-rig big shot

EXCLUSIVE: Many big-rig truckers are backing former President Trump this cycle, amid worries surrounding how a Harris administration would affect the crucial auto industry, a trucking company executive admitted.  The presidential election is just five days away, and Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have presented different futures for the auto industry while on the campaign trail. Mike Kucharski, co-owner and vice president of JKC Trucking, Chicago’s largest specialty contract carrier, said that there are five reasons truckers are more in favor of a Trump presidency this cycle: costs, increased regulatory burdens, infrastructure, driving range of the trucks and less cargo capacity due to the battery. “I personally don’t vote along party lines, but I support candidates with policies. And I would say policies are the gateway to truckers’ vote — policies that help small business thrive,” Kucharski said in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital. “Right now, a lot of small business owners in the trucking industry are seriously concerned about Kamala Harris’ impact on our industry if she takes office.” TRUCKING GROUPS, FARMERS FILE OPENING BRIEF IN LAWSUIT AGAINST EPA: ‘UNWORKABLE MANDATE’ The number one issue, according to Kucharski, is costs.  “Truckers are already struggling to stay afloat due to issues like skyrocketing diesel costs. It’s pouring too much for diesel. Truckers are driving less miles, paying more for fuel,” he said. “Another blow to truckers is this increased regulatory burdens. Truckers are overregulated.” HARRIS TOUTS GROWING UP IN MIDDLE CLASS WHILE PUSHING MANDATE MOST ‘WON’T BE ABLE TO AFFORD’: ECONOMIST Kucharski added that truckers are supportive of electric trucks, but that the industry is not ready for mandates such as those being pushed under the Biden-Harris administration. Harris’ campaign told Fox News Digital that she does not support electric vehicle mandates. However, the Biden-Harris Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) introduced a final rule in March to require up to two-thirds of all new car sales to be electric by 2032. The agency also set a goal to require 40% of heavy-duty trucks to be zero-emissions by 2032. The EPA previously projected the standards could lead to 50% of vocational trucks, 35% of short-haul tractor-trailers and 25% of long-haul tractor-trailers produced in 2032 being electric. “The small trucking companies simply can’t absorb these extreme costs. And people are saying the larger companies could do it. But I think they’re going to have an issue. It’s a great idea, but I don’t think it’s going to work,” Kucharski said of the final rule. Many truckers are supporting Trump this cycle because he offers an energy-independent future, Kucharski said. “Trump has a little different perspective,” he added. “Donald Trump, during COVID, brought truckers to the White House and thanked them for being essential workers.” “Truckers really have hope that he’ll walk back on just some of these regulations, because we’re overregulating the trucking business,” he said. “Truckers are very excited because when Trump was talking about the economic plan, he brought up tariffs. And Trump is saying that he wants to bring more businesses, more production back into the U.S., which would be awesome.” Jeremy Kirkpatrick, spokesman for American Trucking Associations (ATA), told Fox that they will work with whichever candidate gets elected and will be an advocate for the industry. “The American Trucking Associations works with any officeholder who is willing to work with us. Regardless of the outcome, ATA will remain at the table and continue to advocate for commonsense, pro-trucking policies that strengthen the supply chain, grow the economy and deliver for the American people,” he said. Brian Pannebecker, founder of Auto Workers for Trump 2024, recently told Fox he thinks that many Rust Belt autoworkers, a traditional cornerstone of the blue voting base, will be voting Republican this cycle. “The Democrats have been shipping our jobs to Mexico and China for over 40 years, so this process has just come to a head now with Donald Trump, and he’s speaking our language. He knows what we want to hear, that he’s going to protect our industry before it completely disappears, and we’re going to vote for him in big numbers. I’m saying 65% to 70% of the UAW members are pulling the lever for Donald J. Trump,” Pannebecker told FOX Business’ “The Bottom Line.” Harris was endorsed by the United Auto Workers union in July, which said that “our job in this election is to defeat Donald Trump and elect Kamala Harris to build on her proven track record of delivering for the working class.” FOX Business’ Taylor Penley contributed to this report.

The fatal flaw in Kamala Harris’ speech, marred by Biden’s ‘garbage’ comment

The optics were perfect. The crowd was massive. The media reviews were glowing. But there was a fundamental contradiction at the heart of Kamala Harris’ speech on the Ellipse that virtually no one is talking about.  First, I’ll give the vice president her due. It was a well-written address and strongly delivered. It contained a fair amount of policy, such as Medicare payments for home health care and aid to first-time home buyers. INTERVIEWING DONALD TRUMP: A LAST-MINUTE BLITZ AND NEW CLOSING MESSAGE Harris acknowledged that many voters were just getting to know her. She mentioned her mom and her middle-class upbringing, as she always does. She said she’s not perfect and makes mistakes. But the backbone of the speech was a two-fisted, no-holds-barred attack on Donald Trump. Harris likened him to King George III as a “petty tyrant.” She called him “unstable” and “consumed with grievance.” She said he’s seeking “unchecked power” and is “obsessed with revenge.” In short, after a 100-day campaign, Harris is still running as she did when she quickly seized the nomination, as the anti-Trump. Now such rhetorical assaults can be traced to the dawn of the republic. You may not love me, but that other guy is so much worse. That’s why she used the White House as a backdrop, standing at the spot where Trump gave his speech on Jan. 6, urging his supporters to go to the Capitol, where many proceeded to riot. Fine. Fair game. Especially for a candidate who’s trying to win some Republican votes, aided by Liz Cheney, a number of former Trump officials and, as of yesterday, Arnold Schwarzenegger. But then the veep tried to make the pivot, presenting herself as the candidate of unity. RACIST TALK AT RALLY MARS TRUMP’S MESSAGE, BUT HE SCORES ON JOE ROGAN PODCAST And therein lies the fatal flaw. You can’t beat the crap out of your opponent and, in practically the next breath, say you want to bring the country together. You can’t have it both ways. You can be an attack dog, but if you’re baring those teeth, you can’t suddenly be purring like a puppy. Not that Harris didn’t have some good lines. Trump has an enemies list and she’ll have a to-do list. And of political opponents: “He wants to put them in jail. I’ll give them a seat at my table.” The segue: “It is time to stop pointing fingers and start locking arms.” But, um, she just spent a good chunk of her speech pointing fingers. And then she kept circling back to Trump in the second half, such as when discussing abortion rights. Harris also went beyond political exaggeration. “He tried to cut Medicare and Social Security every year he was president,” she said. That is simply not true. But she gets very little fact-checking. Overall, the speech was a plus for her, despite its clashing ideas. But make no mistake, she’s running as the alternative to a man she paints as dangerous. As the Free Press put it: “This campaign is and always has been all about Trump. And it will be all about Trump all the way to the finish line now.” PLAYING THE HITLER CARD: WILL TRUMP BACKERS DISMISS JOHN KELLY’S ATTACK? But Harris’ big moment was marred by Joe Biden – the, ah, previous nominee – to the point where it almost seems like he’s trying to undermine her. Last week, the president said of his predecessor, “Lock him up.” Harris always says she’ll leave that to the courts. And now, referring to the racist comic at the Madison Square Garden rally who called Puerto Rico an island of garbage, Biden said: “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters.” The president stumbled for a couple of seconds and added: “His–his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American.” Boom. Too late. There were instant comparisons to Hillary Clinton’s “basket of deplorables” swipe at Trump supporters in 2016. Biden posted a clarification, saying he was referring only to comic Tony Hinchcliffe. (Trump says he doesn’t know the performer and didn’t hear the so-called joke.)  The White House put out a transcript that included an apostrophe, as in “his supporter’s,” trying to indicate that he was talking about one person. Who would have thought the campaign would turn on a lowly apostrophe?  A reporter asked Harris about the Biden blunder yesterday before she boarded Air Force Two. “He clarified his comments, but let me be clear: I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for…I believe the work that I do is about representing people whether they support me or not.” Kamala finally broke with the boss, wisely distancing herself from the blunder. No wonder she’s resisted his suggestions that they campaign together. He’s doing enough damage on his own, with some pundits even suggesting it’s deliberate.  And that gave Trump an opening: “Now, on top of everything, Joe Biden calls our supporters ‘garbage.’ You can’t lead America if you don’t love the American people.” It’s a distraction that Kamala Harris didn’t need in the final days of the campaign.

‘Divine festival of lights…’ PM Narendra Modi extend his wishes on festival Diwali

This Diwali is particularly significant as Ayodhya celebrated the festival for the first time since the inauguration of the Ram Temple in January.

Harris pledges to sign bill ‘to restore reproductive freedom’ as president in Wisconsin speech

Vice President Kamala Harris suggested she would sign federal abortion protections into law during a speech in Wisconsin on Thursday evening. “One does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree, the government shouldn’t be telling her what to do with her body,” Harris said, referring to women. “When Congress passes a bill to restore reproductive freedom nationwide, as President of the United States, I will proudly sign it into law.” BIDEN CALLS TRUMP SUPPORTERS ‘GARBAGE’ DURING HARRIS CAMPAIGN EVENT AS VP PROMISES UNITY AT ELLIPSE RALLY Harris has made abortion rights a cornerstone of her 2024 campaign, and has spoken on the issue frequently in her capacity as President Biden’s vice president.  Democrats are hoping that continued fallout from the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022 will be a potent political cudgel in November. In the previous midterm races, it was partially credited with aiding them in keeping the Senate and blunting Republicans’ margin of victory in the House. Harris said on Wednesday evening that Trump “would ban abortion nationwide” and likewise institute a ban on contraceptives – both stances the ex-president has explicitly denied. JON STEWART ADMITS HE FINDS WIDELY CRITICIZED TRUMP RALLY COMEDIAN FUNNY While Democratic lawmakers have rallied around federal abortion legislation to codify it into law, Republicans have insisted it’s an issue best left up to the states. Moderate GOP lawmakers facing tough re-election battles have emphasized that they would not support any federal abortion bans. Abortion-related issues are on the ballot in several states in the November elections, including the battleground states of Nevada and Arizona. Democrats hope it will be a motivator for people who are normally apathetic to elections to turn out and vote blue. PA GOV. JOSH SHAPIRO DISTANCES HIMSELF FROM BIDEN’S ‘GARBAGE’ COMMENT: ‘I’D NEVER INSULT’ TRUMP SUPPORTERS “Ours is a fight for the future, and it is a fight for freedom. Freedom, like the fundamental freedom of a woman to make decisions about her own body and not have her government tell her what to do,” Harris said Wednesday. The Republican National Committee (RNC) slammed Harris before her appearance in battleground Wisconsin, with Chairman Michael Whatley saying in a statement, “Harris’ vision for Wisconsin is an even more dangerously liberal version of the past four years. Kamala Harris broke Wisconsin’s economy, but President Trump will fix it.” Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub. 

Prosecutors push for 17-year sentence for Pentagon leaker Jack Teixeira

A low-level airman, Teixeira pleaded guilty to sharing hundreds of classified files on the social media site Discord. United States prosecutors will seek a 17-year prison term for an airman who admitted to leaking hundreds of highly classified military documents about the Ukraine war and other national security secrets. In a sentencing memorandum filed earlier this week, prosecutors said the crime by Jack Teixeira, 22, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, amounted to one of the most “consequential violations of the Espionage Act in American history”. “The defendant took an oath to defend the United States and to protect its secrets — secrets that are vital to US national security and the physical safety of Americans serving overseas,” prosecutors wrote. “Teixeira violated his oath, almost every day, for over a year.” The classified records were shared last year by Teixeira on the messaging app Discord. Authorities say Teixeira began by typing out copies that he then published online. Later, he photographed the files, some of which bore “SECRET” and “TOP SECRET” markings. Mossad details The leaked documents held highly classified information on allies and adversaries, with details ranging from troop movements in Ukraine to intelligence about Israel’s Mossad spy agency. The breach embarrassed the Pentagon and forced the administration of President Joe Biden to scramble to try to contain the diplomatic and military fallout. Unlike other leakers of US military secrets, Teixeira’s lawyers say he had no political goal and was not a spy working for a foreign government. The lawyers are pushing for a lighter sentence of 11 years, saying their client, who pleaded guilty in March, “made a terrible decision” but never meant to harm the US. “Instead, his intent was to educate his friends about world events to make certain they were not misled by misinformation,” said the lawyers. They also noted that Teixeira has autism and has never been convicted of a crime before. “Jack has thoroughly accepted responsibility for the wrongfulness of his actions and stands ready to accept whatever punishment must now be imposed,” wrote Teixeira’s lawyers. Prosecutors countered that Teixeira, who held a top-secret security clearance while working in cyberdefence operations, does not suffer from an intellectual disability that prevents him from knowing right from wrong. They argued that Teixeira’s post-arrest diagnosis as having “mild, high-functioning” autism “is of questionable relevance in these proceedings”. “Whatever developmental or social difficulties Teixeira may have experienced, his decision to illegally disclose national defence information and put the lives of other people at risk was a volitional choice that he made knowingly, wilfully, and with full awareness of the consequences time and time again,” prosecutors wrote. Teixeira, who is scheduled to be sentenced on November 12, cannot be charged with further Espionage Act violations under the terms of his guilty plea. Adblock test (Why?)