In a dramatic turn of events, an early morning military operation on Saturday led to the arrest of the ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his spouse, Cilia Flores. However, the aftermath took an unexpected twist when a controversial left-wing journalist decided to reveal sensitive details about the operation’s key player.

Seth Harp, a journalist who self-identifies as an investigative reporter, stirred up a storm by posting on the social media platform X. He shared a photograph and disclosed the identity of an individual he claimed to be the commander of Delta Force, the elite unit behind the successful mission.

This move exemplifies a troubling trend among certain journalists who prioritize their personal agendas over professional ethics. Harp defended his actions by stating that it is lawful for a U.S. reporter to disclose classified information if they did not personally obtain it. Such a rationale raises questions about the diligence in verifying facts and sources.

Harp appears to have a particular interest in Delta Force, having authored a New York Times bestseller that delves into the workings of this elite team. His work has reportedly attracted the attention of HBO, which is considering a television adaptation. In his social media post, Harp provocatively referred to the military operation as an “abduction,” diverging from the official narrative.

While Harp paints a dramatic picture, it’s crucial to remember the context: Maduro, a leader accused of election fraud and clinging to power, was the target of this operation. The complexities of such international events are often lost in sensationalist interpretations.

“This is the current commander of Delta Force, whose men just invaded a sovereign country, killed a bunch of innocent people, and kidnapped the rightful president.”

In the same thread, Harp stated that publishing such information – even information he described as classified – was “perfectly legal.”

This is typical of leftist journalists. They are so full of their own virtue that they think their every word and action is justified, no matter how morally bankrupt and reprehensible they might be. Beating their own drum and hammering home their preferred narrative trumps professionalism, let alone journalistic integrity. Harp claimed in his post that, “It’s perfectly legal for a US reporter to disclose classified material the leakage of which I did not procure.”

What the heck does that mean? If you didn’t procure it, that means you also didn’t bother to vet the information or verify sources. Harp seems to have a real hard-on for Delta Force, and his purported New York Times bestseller is an exposé of the elite team, which, according to Harp, HBO has picked up for the makings of a television series. Along with the X post doxing the Delta Force commander, Harp waxed ineloquent about the military strike that he referred to as an abduction.

The unit that abducted President Nicolas Maduro was Delta Force, an organization filled with cokeheads and pervaded by drug trafficking. You can bet that the only narcotics involved were the ones that they were on pic.twitter.com/byWlM3jv0o

— Seth Harp (@sethharpesq) January 3, 2026

Maduro is a deposed dictator who stole an election and refused to give up power; but do go on, Seth. 

‘Chavismo,’ on Full Display: Why These Equally Complicit Venezuelan Leaders Must Be Removed From Power

Harp also needs to consider dropping that “investigative reporter” label from his bio. Had he bothered to vet this supposedly classified information before he threw it up on X, he would have discovered that the service member whom he doxed was not the commander of Operation Absolute Resolve, and was nowhere near Venezuela on Saturday. Those who saw the original post, especially those who are military members and veterans, ratioed Harp to the moon.

Rightly so.

Seth Harp says it’s legal to doxx the head of Delta
Maybe
But it makes you a world class scumbag
I’d keep my head on a swivel Champ
You just made a lot of dangerous enemies pic.twitter.com/ZovzZf86fI

— Jim Hanson (@JimHansonDC) January 5, 2026

Ya think? If this commander is the head of an elite team of military badasses, X commentators flaming your horrific analysis is the least of your worries.   

Doxing is a crime with evil intentions. Seth Harp should be brought to justice and an example made him! 😡

— Cindy (@NebraskaCindy) January 5, 2026

Harp couldn’t take the heat or requests for a statement from legitimate publications like “Soldier of Fortune,” so he locked down his X account. Whether you’re on the Left or the Right, the rage mob pretty much works the same. Commenters posted the number to Viking Books, which published his “bestselling” screed, and HBO, which purportedly now owns the rights to translate his novel to the screen. The X algorithm did the rest and locked him out of his account, probably for violation of the terms of service. According to Harp, he deleted the offending posts and others connected to his “critical inquiry” into Saturday’s op. 

What a tremendous loss to journalism.

On Monday, Harp returned to X, account open again, and did what any self-serving weasel would do: He blamed the “fascist” far-right for their “ludicrous allegations of ‘doxxing’.” 

Statement on the ludicrous allegations of “doxxing” leveled at me by a large number of fascist, authoritarian, and far-right accounts pic.twitter.com/rtTKw6hIVS

— Seth Harp (@sethharpesq) January 5, 2026

Yesterday, X admins locked my account and required me to delete certain posts in order to log back in. No explanation was given, but I had posted the publicly available, online bio of a Delta Force commander, a full-bird colonel, whose identity is not classified and which anyone skilled at FOIA can ascertain.

In no way did I “doxx” the officer. I did not post any personally identifying information about him, such as his birthday, social security number, home address, phone number, email address, the names of his family members, or pictures of his house. What I posted is still online on Duke University’s website for all the world to see.

If you serve in the US military, your personnel documents are public records, as they should be. Because I served in the Army myself, anyone can obtain my records, which shows the units in which I served. Nothing exempts Delta Force from this transparency.

Interesting that Harp puts himself on the same level as supposedly coked-out ne’er-do-wells, then tries to justify his behavior by posting information about deceased members of Delta Force. Harp then goes back to his “greater good” schtick. 

To illustrate these points, I also posted the records of deceased special operators, obtained through FOIA, that specifically say “Delta Force” on them, unredacted. In the spirit of fairness, I also posted my own service record. X required me to delete these posts, too.

Nothing about this should distract from the larger issue: Delta Force, acting on President Trump’s unlawful orders, which contravened every principle of international law and sovereignty, as well as the Congress’s prerogative to declare war, invaded Venezuela, killed scores of Venezuelans who posed no threat to the United States, and kidnapped the Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro, as well as his wife.

Every civilian official and military officer in the American chain of command who participated in this outrageously illegal and provocative act of war — which a supermajority of Americans oppose — is the legitimate subject of journalistic scrutiny, and X has no business censoring my timely and accurate reporting.

What war? And where is this “supermajority of Americans”? This diatribe is straight out of that Seditious Six video those not-so-bright senators and congresspersons taped a few months ago. If Harp’s reporting is so “timely and accurate,” then he should publish it in one of those publications where he boasts about his credits. Harp may try to justify his actions, but what is clear is that he has an axe to grind that has little to do with scrutiny, accuracy, or exposing truth. Harp just wants to be a crisis actor and shamelessly self-promote. “Soldier of Fortune” magazine had this conclusion, and it’s spot on.

Soldier of Fortune never has argued that military operations should be immune from scrutiny. But there is a difference between analyzing a mission and exposing the identity of an elite operator. The former is journalism. The latter departs from long-established standards of professional restraint. In national security, the consequences of that exposure do not disappear when a post is deleted.

Consequences go both ways. One way or another, Harp will reap his bitter harvest.

Editor’s Note: Do you enjoy RedState’s conservative reporting that takes on the radical left and woke media? Support our work so that we can continue to bring you the truth.