Austin approves changes to classified information handling following leaks
Mike Brest
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Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin approved a slew of recommendations concerning his department’s procedures for the handling of and access to classified information, the Pentagon announced on Wednesday.
The recommendations originated from Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security Ronald Moultrie, who was tasked in April with a review of the department’s security programs following the unauthorized release of hundreds of classified documents over a period of months dating back to last year. The information was allegedly shared by Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira.
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Moultrie’s review focused on four areas: personnel security, information safeguarding and accountability, physical security, and education and training. While he found that the overwhelming majority of DoD personnel with access to classified information comply with security policies and recognize the importance of doing so, the reviewers also identified areas where the department should strengthen its security posture and accountability measures.
Austin directed all DoD component heads to issue a plan of action and milestones that ensure DoD personnel are accounted for in designated security systems by August 31 and that each plan is assigned a Security Management Office by that date as well. Another aspect that Austin urged improvements on is the physical security of the facilities used to process and analyze classified information, which includes developing a centralized tracking system for the department’s sensitive compartmented information facilities and special access program facilities by the end of the calendar year.
Teixeira pleaded not guilty last month to six counts of willful retention and transmission of classified information related to the national defense. He was arrested on April 13 following a manhunt for the leaker, and a judge granted the prosecution’s motion to keep him behind bars while awaiting trial on May 19. He faces up to 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000 for each count.
He has been accused of leaking hundreds of documents via the Discord app. At first, he allegedly began taking notes on classified intelligence to share with his friends on the platform, but he then stopped when he got concerned others were onto him. So, authorities said, he then decided to print it out, take it home with him, photograph it there, and post those photos online.
The airman, who had a top-secret clearance while working in the 102 Intelligence Wing, was reprimanded twice for the improper handling of classified material in September and October 2022. Then in January, he was seen using a Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System machine, and the person who saw him found him viewing “content not related to his primary duty and was related to the intelligence field,” according to prosecutors.
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In the immediate aftermath of the discovery of the leaked documents, 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 said in May, noting that they have also “taken steps to limit printing capabilities.”
The Pentagon has also started to “re-educate” people on the guidelines of working with classified material, Singh added, “For example, every time I opened my computer right now I get a notice that says you are in a classified space and therefore you should, you know, abide by handling this information in the way that you’ve been trained to.”