“We have to be careful about making Teixeira an example of an entire generation. But this is a generation with more trust in strangers than any previous cohort,”- John Della Volpe, Director of polling at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics
One of the things we've learned in the wake of the arrest of 21-year-old Jack Teixeira yesterday is that our national security system can be at the mercy of an emotionally immature IT specialist wearing a miliary uniform. That's the main takeaway I got after the FBI arrested Teixeira and charged him with unauthorized removal of classified national defense information at his Dighton, Massachusetts hideaway yesterday afternoon.
As noted by The Washington Post (which broke the original revelations Wednesday night - see link at bottom), this delusionary, insecure misfit was responsible for what is probably the largest breach of military files in at least a decade. He revealed secrets about everything from gaps in Ukrainian defenses to specifics of how the U.S. spies on its allies and partners. And why? Not for money (like FBI leaker Robert Hansen), or for revealing NSA violations of Americans' civil liberties as Edward Snowden did. Nope, he did it to gratify his own ego and confirm he was a legend in his own febrile mind.
As the original WaPo account noted, this 21-year old E-3 graded Air National Guardsman wanted desperately to be more than a cipher. So he sought out an online teen gamer group called 'Discord' and went to one of its backlit side chat rooms called 'Thug Shaker Central'. There, as "OG", he commanded the respect he craved from 25-30 teen gamers and with whom he shared the secrets he'd been entrusted to protect.
As the Post account noted, from the beginning "OG" sought to impress the young gamers with messages laden with acronyms and jargon, at first typing out files. Then later, impatient at the lack of attention - the gamers often preferred Youtube videos - he began disseminating actual photographs of files. This impressed the callow gamers and got them back to reality that this was a serious dude and he was for real.
Group members grew more and more captivated and many elevated Teixeira to near godhood as he lectured them about international affairs and secret government operations. At one point OG barked to them that the American people only knew "85% of what was going on" and they'd have nightmares if they knew the rest.
One of the adulating members in an interview with the Post (with his mother's permission) burped:
“He’s a smart person. He knew what he was doing when he posted these documents, of course. These weren’t accidental leaks of any kind."
Another agreed and added:
“This guy was a Christian, anti-war, just wanted to inform some of his friends about what’s going on...He was the man, the myth. And he was the legend. Everyone respected this guy"
Well, he wasn't informing his "friends", but a gaggle of impressionable teen boys who were into war games. But the point missing here - as former Bush national security adviser Jamal Jaffer noted on ALL In last night- is that Teixeira had to know that among the 25 or so chat room members were Russians and Ukrainians. Also, that a number of the files he leaked to the chat group had NOFORN in bold at the top- meaning No foreign nationals - were to see them. Hence, he can be prosecuted under the Espionage Act - and may even be subject to a Military trial.
To be sure, Teixeira was aware of the risks as he warned his young acolytes not to let the info get outside the group. But alas, one of the group with an obscure handle, passed some of the leaked files on to other video war gamers. The rest as they say, is history. Let's also add that deliberate leakage and intention may play a role in any leniency. And it was obvious from the WaPo account this guy only circulated the docs, images to show off to his young idolizers. But that may not be enough to save him.
It was, of course, inevitable, that when the larger story broke - especially on the pages of The Wall Street Journal, some twits would let brains get unhinged. And so one saw a number of commenters writing: "This had to be a young WOKE guy" or "Figures. Another case of America haters trying to undermine the country, then they want to blame Trump!" But as the WaPo noted, at one point:
"OG stands at a shooting range, wearing safety glasses and ear coverings and holding a large rifle. He yells a series of racial and antisemitic slurs into the camera, then fires several rounds at a target".
Behavior and words which are most UN-woke. But make no mistake he was probably preaching to a troll choir - as opposed to innocent naifs - given (from NY Times this a.m.):
"Members of the group traded racist and antisemitic epithets and appeared in other groups featuring Nazi iconography."
Irrespective of all that, these are the facts uncovered thus far and what they may portend for our unwoke 21-year old leaker:
· The investigative website Bellingcat
and The New York Times first publicly identified Teixeira, following the original WaPo piece on OG- minutes
before federal officials confirmed he was a subject of interest in the
investigation. They reported tracking profiles on other more obscure sites
linked to Teixeira.
· Teixeira was a “cyber transport systems specialist”, essentially an IT specialist responsible for military communications networks, including their cabling and hubs. A defense official has told the Associated Press that in that role Teixeira would have had a higher level of security clearance – because he would have also been tasked with ensuring protection for the networks.
The likely charges, if proved, could each carry up to 10 years’ imprisonment, even if the leaker did not intend to cause harm. This according to Brandon Van Grack, a former Justice Department national security prosecutor. Prosecutors could treat each leaked document as a separate count in his indictment.
This latest leak again underscores the need for greater attention to file access, and security. In particular, why is it that 1.2 million have access to top secret files? And how is it that an emotionally unstable individual was able to remove classified material from a secure (SCIP) site and photograph hundreds of files without raising suspicion? WHY weren't those in the vicinity alert and awake enough to see what the hell he was doing and ask questions? Inquiring minds want to know the answers, and so do many of our allies.
In the words of Tom Nichols, staff writer for the Atlantic, who himself had security clearance for 35 years:
“I hope this guy isn’t the leaker, because I’m gonna have some questions about how a Mass Air Guard guy got CJCS [Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff] briefing slides."
And one way to avoid this kind of fiasco in the future is to train experienced military - maybe even Afghan or Iraq vets - to be IT specialists. Thereby removing the need to rely on green (not long out of HS), deluded, emotionally immature twits like Teixeira to have access to top secret materials. One Pentagon spokesman, Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, quoted in the Boston Globe, insisted:
"We entrust our members with a lot of responsibility at a very early age."
But not THAT young! Just out of high school and no actual field military experience, in an actual (as opposed to virtual) theater. Also, before handing over any such responsibility, it might be a good idea to have any such persons take a psychological assessment test.
See Also:
Discord member details how documents leaked from closed chat group - The Washington Post
And:
by Maya Boddie | April 15, 2023 - 7:37am | permalink
Right-wing leaders and voters are glorifying the recently arrested leaker of highly sensitive classified documents, calling him a "hero."
GOPers like U.S. Rep. Marjorie Tylor Greene (R-GA) and former President Donald Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., both lauded Jack Teixeira following his Thursday arrest.
Greene tweeted she believes the suspect's "white, male, christian, and antiwar" identity "makes him an enemy to the Biden regime," while Trump Jr. said during an episode of his "Triggered" podcast, the "leaker could potentially help 'avert World War III."
The conservative Georgia lawmaker doubled down on her thoughts via Twitter Friday, saying, "While yes, leaking classified documents is serious, many are calling Jake Teixeira a hero for pulling back the flimsy transparent curtain and revealing what we suspected all along. Criticism about who can be trusted with national intelligence need to ask themselves that…"
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