Alleged leaker works as cyber transport systems journeyman, Air Force says
Mike Brest
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The U.S. Air Force has released details about the Air National Guardsman arrested on suspicion of allegedly leaking hundreds of classified military documents.
Jack Teixeira, 21, is an enlisted airman with the Massachusetts Air National Guard at Otis Air National Guard Base, and he joined the service in September 2019. He is a cyber transport systems journeyman, while those specialists within cyber transport systems are tasked with ensuring the Air Force’s “vast, global communications network” is operating correctly.
FBI ARRESTS JACK TEIXEIRA, AIR NATIONAL GUARDSMAN LINKED TO PENTAGON CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS LEAK
He was arrested on Thursday afternoon in Dighton, Massachusetts, without incident by the FBI.
He’s an airman 1st class, which is the third enlisted rank an airman will make, and he has one achievement medal during his time in the service, according to an Air Force spokeswoman.
“Today, the FBI took 21-year-old Jack Douglas Teixeira into custody without incident at a residence in North Dighton, Massachusetts, for his alleged involvement in leaking classified U.S. government and military documents,” an FBI spokesperson told the Washington Examiner in a statement. “The FBI is continuing to conduct authorized law enforcement activity at the residence. Since late last week the FBI has aggressively pursued investigative leads and today’s arrest exemplifies our continued commitment to identifying, pursuing, and holding accountable those who betray our country’s trust and put our national security at risk.”
Teixeira has been accused of releasing hundreds of classified military documents on Discord, a social media and messaging platform popular among young people and video game players, for weeks. His alleged unauthorized distribution of classified information was only discovered recently, as Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was first briefed on the subject on April 6.
The documents he allegedly released revealed U.S. intelligence regarding both sides of the war in Ukraine, including pulling the curtain back on how far the intelligence community has pierced the Kremlin and uncovering allegedly uncomfortable truths about the U.S. relationship with allies including Israel and South Korea.
Some of the documents have been altered or changed, though it’s unclear which and who would’ve manipulated them if not Teixeira, while some foreign governments have said statements contained within the leaked documents are false.
A Pentagon spokesman referred the Washington Examiner to the Department of Justice, which provided the same statement as the FBI. Pentagon press secretary Patrick Ryder directed reporters to the DOJ when asked about the leaks during Thursday’s briefing.
“We continue to work around the clock along with the interagency and the intelligence community to better understand the scope, scale and impact of these leaks,” Ryder stated. “And just as we’re limited in what we can say about the DOJ’s ongoing investigation, we’ll be also very limited in what we can say about any of the documents themselves.”
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He described Teixeira’s alleged actions as “a deliberate criminal act.”
The Pentagon is reviewing its policies regarding access to classified material in the wake of the scandal.