The latest press reports on the serious leak of extremely sensitive Pentagon material pointed to a 21-year-old intelligence analyst, Airman First Class Jack Teixeira as the leader of the online Discord chat group called Thug Shaker Central. according to a report from The New York Times, “Airman Teixeira is enlisted in the 102nd Intelligence Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard. Posts on the unit’s official Facebook page congratulated Airman Teixeira and colleagues for being promoted to Airman First Class in July 2022.” Tiexeiria is due to appear in court in Boston on April 14.
DOJ Plugs the Leak
Attorney General Merrick Garland said the FBI had arrested Teixeira “without incident,” and that the suspect would be arraigned later in the day. Despite Teixeira’s gaming friends steadfastly refusing to name him as the leaker, the airman left a digital trail. “An online gaming profile in Airman Teixeira’s name connected him to photographs of the location where leaked documents were photographed – a kitchen countertop inside his childhood home,” the NYT reported.
At an April 13 briefing to the Pentagon press corps, Defense Department Press Secretary Air Force Brigadier General Pat Ryder announced he would not provide specific information on the classified information breach, as it was under criminal investigation by the Department of Justice (DOJ). So, very few details other than what has been thus far reported in the press came out. However, when asked if the Pentagon was taking steps to reduce the number of people with access to the type of information leaked, he said: “That’s accurate, and we continue to review those distribution lists to make sure there is a need to know.” On numerous occasions during the briefing, Ryder made the point that the DOD has “stringent” guidelines in place and that the unauthorized release of the classified documents was a criminal act where the perpetrator purposefully violated those guidelines and regulations.
Asked about the breadth of the distribution network for the documents, Ryder explained: “The Department of Defense and all of our components – it’s a global enterprise doing work in all areas of the world.” In response to the question of whether the time gap between the earliest indication of the breach and when Secretary of Defense Austin learned of the issue was a failure of the intelligence community, Ryder declared, “Absolutely not. The Department became aware on the 5th [of April] and the secretary was briefed hours later on the morning of the 6th.” However, the purloined documents were leaked out over the course of several months. Not wishing to get out in front of the DOJ, Ryder’s comments provide little new information beyond circulating press reports.
Seeming Contradictions Explained
(Photo by Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
For example, The Wall Street Journal reported, “Investigators believe the leak of purported highly classified documents on Ukraine and dozens of other subjects likely originated from an Air National Guardsman who was based at Fort Bragg at the time of the leak, US officials said, and an arrest could be made as early as Thursday [April 13].” Though the reporting seems to contradict the earlier NYT dispatch, Air National Guard members commonly engage in temporary duties (TDY) at other military installations. And though Teixeira is assigned to the Massachusetts air guard unit, he could easily have been TDY to Ft. Bragg when he stole many of the documents. Regarding the impact of the leaks, mainly as they influence Ukraine’s anticipated Spring counteroffensive, Kyiv officials dismissed any damage to existing planning. Mykhailo Podolyak, a Ukrainian presidential adviser, claimed that the leaked files “have no operational significance. They have no impact on the front line or the planning of the General Staff.”
Clearly, the investigation is moving quickly and investigators should soon learn what motivated Teixeira to leak his nation’s secrets and break the law. The expedited arrest of the perpetrator will help assuage the fears of allies and defense partners worldwide. Now, the US is faced with damage control and taking steps to seal the breach to prevent future leaks from ever happening.
The views expressed are those of the author and not of any other affiliation.
