Jack Posobiec, a right-wing conspiracy theorist retweeted by President Trump this week, is also an Navy intelligence officer with a suspended security clearance, according to newly obtained service records and interviews with U.S. military members.
Mr. Posobiec, 32, enlisted in the U.S. Navy Reserve in 2010 and is currently a lieutenant junior grade assigned to Joint Reserve Intelligence Support Element Dekalb, NBC News first reported Wednesday.
His security clearance was suspended earlier this year, and Mr. Posobiec believes it’s because he became “more outspoken on Twitter,” the report said.
“It had to do with using my Twitter account,” he told Task and Purpose, a news site devoted to matters related to the U.S. military and its veterans, in an interview Wednesday. “I don’t know how much I can talk about… They said somebody made a complaint against me,” he added.
A Navy Reserve representative confirmed that Mr. Posobiec’s access to classified information was suspended and said that his security clearance is “under review,” Task and Purpose reported.
“I don’t have any additional information as to why,” public affairs officer Cdr. Doug Gabos told the website.
A former colleague who spoke to Task and Purpose offered a reason for the suspension on condition of anonymity, however.
His “clearance got pulled for sharing classified information on Twitter,” the source said.
“I’ve never mishandled classified information in my entire military or civilian career,” Mr. Posobiec responded.
Mr. Posobiec maintained a popular Twitter account prior to being retweeted by the president this week, but Mr. Trump’s boost Monday evening of a post he had penned about media bias quickly cast him further into the spotlight.
“Meanwhile: 39 shootings in Chicago this weekend, 9 deaths. No national media outrage. Why is that?” the tweet said.
The president’s retweet quickly caused a stir thanks in part to Mr. Posobiec’s reputation as a right-wing provocateur responsible for propagating baseless conspiracy theories, including ones surrounding the murder of a Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich and a D.C. pizzeria, among others.
“Thank you, Mr. President,” Mr. Posobiec tweeted afterwards.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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