A Massachusetts-based US Air National Guard member was on Thursday arrested in connection with the disclosure of highly classified military documents about the Ukraine war and other top US national security issues, an alarming breach that has raised fresh questions about Washington’s ability to safeguard its most sensitive secrets.
The guard member, an IT specialist identified as 21-year-old Jack Teixeira, was taken into custody without incident after FBI officers converged on his home in North Dighton, Massachusetts.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland said Teixeira would be charged with removing or transmitting classified national defense information, a crime under the US’ Espionage Act.
Photo: REUTERS / WCVB-TV / ABC
Garland did not reveal a possible motive, but accounts of those in an online private chat group in which the documents were disclosed depicted Teixeira as motivated more by bravado than ideology.
While Thursday’s arrest was a pivotal moment in an investigation into the highest-profile US intelligence leak in years, the US military and the US Department of Justice were still scrutinizing how sensitive government secrets shared in a chat room ended up circulating around the world.
The emergence of Teixeira as a primary suspect is bound to raise questions about how such a profound breach, one that the US Department of Defense termed a “very serious risk to national security,” could have been caused by a young, low-ranking service member.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“We entrust our members with a lot of responsibility at a very early age. Think about a young combat platoon sergeant, and the responsibility and trust that we put into those individuals to lead troops into combat,” Pentagon press secretary General Patrick Ryder said.
Teixeira was a “cyber transport systems specialist,” essentially an IT specialist responsible for military communications networks, including their cabling and hubs.
In that role, Teixeira had a higher level of security clearance because he would have also been tasked with responsibility for ensuring protection for the networks, a defense official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
Hours after the arrest, US House of Representatives Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner issued a statement pledging to “examine why this happened, why it went unnoticed for weeks, and how to prevent future leaks.”
Teixeira, who was wearing a T-shirt and shorts at the time heavily armed FBI agents arrested him, was yesterday due to have his initial court appearance in Massachusetts.
He could also face charges in a military court.
It was not immediately clear if he had a lawyer who could speak on his behalf, and a telephone message left at a number believed to belong to his mother was not returned.
Garland said the investigation is ongoing, but did not say if other suspects were being pursued.
The administration of US President Joe Biden has scrambled to contain the potential diplomatic and military fallout from the leaks since they were first reported last week, moving to assure allies and assess the scope of damage.
Pentagon officials have expressed alarm about the breach.
Biden downplayed the lasting impact of the revelations, telling reporters in Ireland earlier on Thursday that “there’s nothing contemporaneous that I’m aware of that is of great consequence.”
The classified documents — which have not been individually authenticated by US officials — range from briefing slides mapping out Ukrainian military positions to assessments of international support for Ukraine and other sensitive topics, including under what circumstances Russian President Vladimir Putin might use nuclear weapons.
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including
UNREST: The authorities in Turkey arrested 13 Turkish journalists in five days, deported a BBC correspondent and on Thursday arrested a reporter from Sweden Waving flags and chanting slogans, many hundreds of thousands of anti-government demonstrators on Saturday rallied in Istanbul, Turkey, in defence of democracy after the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu which sparked Turkey’s worst street unrest in more than a decade. Under a cloudless blue sky, vast crowds gathered in Maltepe on the Asian side of Turkey’s biggest city on the eve of the Eid al-Fitr celebration which started yesterday, marking the end of Ramadan. Ozgur Ozel, chairman of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), which organized the rally, said there were 2.2 million people in the crowd, but
RSS