Kid Leaks Classified Documents

[Pit Gebeyaw]

FILEThis artist depiction shows Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira, right, appearing in U.S. District Court in Boston, April 14, 2023. The massive classified documents leak by an Air Force service member earlier this year was made worse by the intentional failure by multiple officials to report to take required action on his suspicious behavior, the Air Force inspector general reported Monday. Massachusetts Air National Guard member Jack Teixeira is accused of leaking highly classified military documents on a social media platform. He pleaded not guilty in June to federal felony charges. (Margaret Small via AP, File)

Massachusetts Air National Guard member Jack Teixeira is accused of leaking highly classified military from the 102nd Intelligence Wing at Otis Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts where he worked.

In its investigation of the leaks, the Air Force inspector general found both security gaps occurred in part because personnel had access to classified documents without supervision, and because in instances where Airman 1st Class Teixeira was caught violating security policies none of the personnel who either witnessed the violations or had responsibility for Teixeira took the actions necessary in response.

Teixeira worked as a cyber transport systems specialist, essentially an information technology specialist responsible for military communications networks. As such, Teixeira had often unsupervised access as part of a three-person team at night to Top Secret-Secret Compartmentalized facility to perform maintenance inspections. Teixeira remains in the Air National Guard in an unpaid status, Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said.

For example, in fall 2022 Teixeira was seen writing down notes from a classified document onto a Post-It note. While he was confronted about the note, there was no follow up to ensure the note had been shredded and the incident was not reported to security officers.

As a result of the security breach, Col. Sean Riley, 102nd Intelligence Wing commander, received administrative action and was relieved of command and the 102nd Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group commander Col. Enrique Dovalo, received administrative action for concerns with unit culture and compliance with policies and standards.

The Air Force also said previously suspended commanders from the 102nd Intelligence Support Squadron and the detachment overseeing administrative support for airmen at the unit mobilized for duty under Title 10 USC were permanently removed.

As federal investigators assess the impact of recent classified document leaks, Defense Department officials are reminding employees how to properly handle information designated as top secret, secret or confidential.

Defense Logistics Agency Chief of Staff Eric Smith cautioned employees against searching the internet for the leaked information on government or personal devices because it remains classified despite disclosure and wide reporting by civilian media.

FILE - This artist depiction shows Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira, right, appearing in U.S. District Court in Boston, April 14, 2023. The Pentagon on Wednesday announced plans to tighten protection for classified information following the explosive leaks of hundreds of intelligence documents that were accessed through security gaps at a Massachusetts Air National Guard base. Texeira, 21, is accused of leaking the highly classified military documents in a chatroom on Discord, a social media platform that started as a hangout for gamers. (Margaret Small via AP, File)

FILE - In this artist depiction, Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira, seated second from right, appears in U.S. District Court, in Boston, April 19, 2023. The Pentagon on Wednesday announced plans to tighten protection for classified information following the explosive leaks of hundreds of intelligence documents that were accessed through security gaps at a Massachusetts Air National Guard base. Texeira, 21, is accused of leaking the highly classified military documents in a chatroom on Discord, a social media platform that started as a hangout for gamers. (Margaret Small via AP, File)

Asked if the department is trying to limit the number of people who have access to classified information, the defense official said it is an effort to ensure that the department is properly determining what information each person may access and making sure that employees have a need to know the classified material they are reading.

According to authorities, Teixeira, who enlisted in the Air National Guard in 2019, began sharing military secrets first by typing out classified documents and later by removing classified documents from the base and taking them home to photograph them.

The case highlighted the potential vulnerabilities the department faces as it works to safeguard classified information at military facilities across the globe that have varying security procedures and layers of protection, said the senior defense official.

An estimated 4 million people hold U.S. security clearances, according to a 2017 report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Of those, roughly 1.3 million are cleared to access top-secret information.

The Defense Department has previously been criticized for delays vetting new employees for security clearances and for over-classifying information. Officials have tried to balance those concerns against efforts to come up with ways to better protect the documents without further slowing down needed access to information, the official said.

The U.S. government is taking the unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information very seriously and is working with interagency partners and the intelligence community "to better understand the scope, scale and impact of these leaks," Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said today.

Even as Ryder was speaking in the Pentagon briefing room, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that the FBI had arrested Jack Teixeira, an airman in the Massachusetts Air National Guard, "in connection with an investigation into alleged unauthorized removal, retention and transmission of classified national defense information."

Ryder said DOD officials continue to review a variety of factors in an effort to safeguard classified materials. DOD already has stringent guidelines in place for safeguarding classified and sensitive information. "This was a deliberate criminal act, a violation of those guidelines," he said. "I think it's important understand that we will continue to do everything we can to ensure that the people who have a need to know when it comes to this kind of information have access to that."

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