Authorities on Thursday arrested a 21-year-old member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard suspected of leaking a trove of classified military intelligence in a case that has transfixed much of official Washington for the past week.
What we know about 21-year-old accused of leaking top-secret documents
By Ben Brasch
Updated April 14, 2023 at 10:55 a.m. EDT|Published April 13, 2023 at 6:35 p.m. EDT
Here’s what you should know about Teixeira.
Who is Jack Teixeira?
Return to menu- Teixeira’s military record indicates that he enlisted in the National Guard on Sept. 26, 2019. He was stationed at Otis Air National Guard Base in Cape Cod, Mass.
- The base is home to the 102nd Intelligence Wing, whose website describes the 102nd’s mission as to “provide world wide precision intelligence and command and control along with trained and experienced Airmen for expeditionary combat support and homeland security.”
- Teixeira was mobilized for federal active duty last fall, Nahaku McFadden, a spokesperson for the National Guard Bureau, told The Post.
- His family lives in Dighton, Mass. — about 35 miles south of Boston.
- Some members of the Discord group showed The Post video of Teixiera shouting racist and antisemitic slurs before firing a rifle.
- A friend who spoke with The Post described Teixeira as patriotic, a devout Catholic and a libertarian with an interest in guns and doubts about America’s future.
- Teixeira has been charged with retention and transmission of national defense information and willful retention of classified documents, which carry a maximum of 15 years in prison.
What kind of information was leaked?
Return to menu- The leaked documents included the whereabouts and movements of high-ranking political leaders and tactical updates on military forces along with geopolitical analysis and insights into foreign governments’ efforts to interfere with elections.
- The leak, per The Post, revealed how the United States gathers foreign intelligence — not just on Russia’s military and spy agencies but also partners like Ukraine and Israel in addition to key allies in Asia, such as South Korea.
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End of carouselDozens of highly classified documents have been leaked online, revealing sensitive information intended for senior military and intelligence leaders. In an exclusive investigation, The Post also reviewed scores of additional secret documents, most of which have not been made public.
Who leaked the documents? Jack Teixeira, a young member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, was arrested Thursday in the investigation into leaks of hundreds of pages of classified military intelligence. The Washington Post reported that the individual who leaked the information shared documents with a small circle of online friends on the Discord chat platform.
What do the leaked documents reveal about Ukraine? The documents reveal profound concerns about the war’s trajectory and Kyiv’s capacity to wage a successful offensive against Russian forces. According to a Defense Intelligence Agency assessment among the leaked documents, “Negotiations to end the conflict are unlikely during 2023.”
What else do they show? The files include summaries of human intelligence on high-level conversations between world leaders, as well as information about advanced satellite technology the United States uses to spy. They also include intelligence on both allies and adversaries, including Iran and North Korea, as well as Britain, Canada, South Korea and Israel.
What happens now? The leak has far-reaching implications for the United States and its allies. In addition to the Justice Department investigation, officials in several countries said they were assessing the damage from the leaks.
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Where did the documents go?
Return to menu- Documents were initially posted to a Discord server named “Thug Shaker Central.”
- Roughly two dozen mostly men and boys formed the invitation-only group on Discord in 2020 with a shared love of guns, military gear and God.
What about Teixeira’s time with the Massachusetts Air National Guard?
Return to menu- The Post has reported that Teixeira’s military record shows him as an Airman 1st Class with no commendations except for an Air Force Achievement Medal — a routine award given widely to airmen.
How would he allegedly have access to such sensitive information?
Return to menu- Teixeira’s security clearance level isn’t clear, but he did have access to an internal Defense Department computer network for top secret information called the Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System (JWICS), a U.S. official familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity as the investigation proceeds told The Post.
- Access to JWICS would have given Teixeira the ability to read and potentially print records classified at the same level as many of the leaked documents, per the official.
- Teixeira told members of his online group that he worked as a technology support staffer at a base on Cape Cod, and that this was how he was able to access classified documents, one member of the Discord server told The Post.
- National Guard units perform some support services for active-duty units, including intelligence support for the Joint Staff, one U.S. official told The Post.
Who can access classified information?
Return to menu- Thousands of military personnel and government employees, working entry-to-low-level positions, could plausibly have access to classified documents like the ones he allegedly shared, according to U.S. officials and experts who have seen the documents reported in the media.
- The military regularly entrusts young people with classified information and elevated responsibilities, Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder said Thursday. “Think about a young combat platoon sergeant, and the responsibility and trust that we put into those individuals to lead troops into combat,” he said. “It’s called military discipline.”
Devlin Barrett and Shane Harris contributed to this report.
