Limited printing and more education top changes following Pentagon leaks
Mike Brest
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The Department of Defense took steps to change its policies and procedures regarding the handling of and access to classified documents in the wake of a Pentagon leak, though more changes could still occur.
Airman Jack Teixeira, 21, who had a top-secret clearance while working in the 102 Intelligence Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, has been accused of leaking hundreds of classified documents online. His background has raised questions about his level of access to this information.
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He was arrested on April 13, and the department made a handful of changes shortly thereafter regarding its policy on classified information, which has been previously discussed by Pentagon officials but with limited details.
The department “immediately culled down our email [distribution] lists and updated those to make sure that there were active participants on that list, but also to make sure that the people who needed access to that information had that,” Pentagon deputy spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters on Thursday, noting that they have also “taken steps to limit printing capabilities.”
Teixeira was accused of first taking notes on classified information to share those details in a private group on the platform Discord, and he later allegedly began printing documents out, taking them home, photographing them, and then posting them in the group.
He was reprimanded twice for the improper handling of classified material in September and October 2022, though in neither case did it rise to the level of restricting his access.
On Sept. 15, he was observed taking notes on classified documents and was ultimately instructed to “no longer take notes in any form on classified intelligence information,” according to a memorandum from his unit, which was included as an appendix in a prosecutor filing on Wednesday.
Then, on Oct. 20, he attended an intelligence briefing in which he proceeded to ask very specific questions, according to another memo from his unit, while days later, superiors were made aware that he may have been ignoring the cease-and-desist order on deep-diving into intelligence information given to him after the first incident. In January, he was seen using a Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System machine, and the person who saw him said he was viewing “content not related to his primary duty and was related to the intelligence field.”
The Pentagon has also started to “reeducate” people on the guidelines of working with classified material, Singh added. “For example, every time I open my computer right now, I get a notice that says, ‘You are in a classified space, and therefore, you should abide by handling this information in the way that you’ve been trained to.'”
Teixeira will appear on Friday in front of Magistrate Judge David Hennessy, who is set to determine whether he will have his freedom until his trial.
Prosecutors said in their latest filing that they now believe more strongly that he should not be set free, even if released to the custody of his father, as his defense seeks, because “the risks [Teixeira] poses if released have only come into sharper focus.”
The Pentagon may make more changes to its procedures regarding classified information once various investigations conclude, Singh noted. The Department of Justice is leading the criminal investigation, while the Air Force is investigating, and has already suspended two senior leaders of Teixeira’s unit, and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin instructed Undersecretary of Defense Intelligence and Security Ronald Moultrie to investigate as well.
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“As the investigation continues, and we get those results, of course, we could make more adjustments, and that’s sort of what leads to better practices in the future,” she said.
Moultrie was given 45 days to submit his recommendations to the secretary, and that deadline is roughly a week and a half away.