Rep. Peter King (R., N.Y.) is reopening an investigation into the treatment of a U.S. Marine who was punished after warning his colleagues of an attack by an Afghan insider, the Marine Times reported Monday.
Days before the deadly attack that killed three Marines, Maj. Jason Brezler, received an urgent request for information on an Afghan police official who posed a security threat. According to Marine Times:
Brezler, a mobilized reserve Marine at the time, "immediately told his fellow Marines what he knew about the peril they faced," and realized afterward that he passed "imminent threat" information classified as "NATO SECRET" over an unclassified computer network, King’s letter states. Brezler, a member of a New York City fire department, reported his mistake to his chain of command in the Corps, and subsequently received an adverse fitness report.
King says in his letter that it is "unfair for Maj. Brezler’s good-faith effort to warn his fellow Marines, of what sadly proved to be mortal danger, to derail his reserve career."
"The Marines and the Fire Department need more good men such as Maj. Brezler, not less," King wrote.
After the incident, Brezler received an "unobserved, adverse" fitness report and the military suspended his security clearance.
The fate of Brezler's career lies with the joint investigation of the Naval Criminal Investigation Service and federal prosecutors.
The shooter responsible for the attack was a "tea boy" for the Afghan police official Sarwar Jan. The young shooter killed Staff Sgt. Scott Dickinson, 29, Cpl. Richard Rivera, 20, and Lance Cpl. Gregory Buckley, 21, on Aug. 10, 2012.