The admiral in charge of the Navy's information warfare community has a message for the public: He is not a threat to U.S. national security and never has been.
Vice Adm. Ted "Twig" Branch spoke out Wednesday for the first time since The Washington Post reported last month that he has been without any security clearance since November 2013, telling Military.com the implication that he represented a threat was outrageous.
"The shortest version of the story is, it's frustrating in the extreme," Branch said. "Probably the most important point is, I am not a danger to national security, nor have I ever been, nor will I ever be, and the idea that I would be is insulting."
Branch, whose official title is deputy chief of naval operations for information warfare and director of naval intelligence, had his clearance pulled after his name was mentioned in a far-ranging investigation into the infamous "Fat Leonard" bribery and corruption scandal.
Read the rest of the story at Military.com.
