New York Times reporter says paper worked to identify leaker but wouldn't have if he leaked to NYT

New York Times military journalist David Philipps called out his employer in a since-deleted tweet that said the paper would have protected the identity of the Pentagon leaker had he given the information to the Times.

"The NYT worked feverishly to find the identity of the guy leaking TS docs on Discord. Ironically, if they same guy had leaked to the NYT, we'd be working feverishly to conceal it," Philipps tweeted Friday with a link to his paper's story about Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old Massachusetts Air National Guardsman who faces charges under the Espionage Act for allegedly leaking sensitive Pentagon documents online.

The following day, Philipps tweeted: "I just deleted a tweet that lacked nuance. Much more nuance coming soon." Many users responded with screenshots of the reporter's deleted tweet calling out the paper.

Philipps' next tweet said: "Though his motivations may be different, the latest intelligence leaker is remarkably similar to other leakers who were young, low ranking and had security clearances that were the intel equivalent of having the keys to dad’s red convertible."

"NYT Military Correspondent lets truth slip out," EpochTV host Jeff Carlson tweeted about the deleted post.

Reporter Glenn Greenwald said the tweet was "a surprisingly candid and very important admission."

Teixeira, who faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted, started posting the sensitive documents on a Discord online chat group late last year, officials said.