Air Force unit with alleged leaker loses intelligence mission as inspector general investigates
Mike Brest
Video Embed
The alleged classified document leaker’s unit has been temporarily stripped of its “intelligence mission,” the Air Force announced in a statement.
Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall has directed the Air Force inspector general to investigate the Massachusetts Air National Guard’s 102nd Intelligence Wing, which included airman Jack Teixeira, who has been accused of leaking hundreds of classified documents over a span of a couple of months.
SUSPECT FIRST LEAKED TEXT OF CLASSIFIED DOCS AROUND DECEMBER, AFFIDAVIT SAYS
With the investigation commencing, the 102nd Intelligence Wing has ceased performing its assigned intelligence mission, a spokeswoman told the Washington Examiner, adding that the mission has been temporarily reassigned to other organizations within the Air Force.
“I’ve tasked our inspector general to go look at the unit and anything associated with this leak that could have gone wrong, from the point of view of implementing our policies to see what things allowed this to happen,” Kendall said during a Senate subcommittee hearing on defense appropriations on Tuesday. “We’re turning on a complete review of our policies themselves within the staff to make sure our policies are adequate. And that will be illuminated by what we learned about what happened in this incident.”
In addition to the inspector general’s review, the “entire force” has been instructed to conduct a stand-down to review security practices and conduct additional training, Kendall added during the hearing.
Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., the Air Force chief of staff, also testified in front of the committee and told lawmakers that there are procedures in place to protect classified information, but “in this case, this process fell apart.” He also said Teixeira had access to classified intelligence but “didn’t necessarily have need-to-know for some of the information.”
The Pentagon has already made some changes to who has access to certain classified information, while Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin directed Ronald Moultrie, undersecretary of defense for intelligence and security, to lead the review process last week, and he has 45 days to submit his recommendations to the secretary.
Teixeira, a 1st class airman, was a cyber transport systems journeyman. He leaked hundreds of documents on a Discord channel to about 20-30 like-minded individuals around his age for months, though it was only uncovered when another individual shared those documents on other social media platforms.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
He was charged last week with unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information and unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or material.
The trove of documents provided insights into the U.S. intelligence sources and methods for obtaining insights regarding both the U.S.’s allies and adversaries. Many of the documents pertained to Russia’s war in Ukraine, providing key details about Ukraine’s defenses and expectations for its coming offensives, while others were about Israel and South Korea, among other allies.