An Air National Guard officer accused of leaking classified documents to a closed group of players on the Discord platform began posting confidential information in February 2022. According to the official indictment, authorities believe Jack Teixeira began publishing classified and top secret documents a few months later.
The New York Times reported on Friday, which Teixera started posting as early as February last year in a much larger Discord discussion group. The publication came to this conclusion based on a survey of the history of online posts in Discord.
In late February 2022, shortly after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine , a Discord user apparently registered as Jack Teixeira began posting classified intelligence about Russian military activities in another platform group, whose name has not yet been revealed. named in the indictment presented to Teixeira. The group, according to the NYT, consisted of about 600 participants.
At this time, the publication does not know if the authorities are aware of the classified documents published in this group.
Among the data published there, according to the newspaper, are details of Russian and Ukrainian losses, information on the actions of Russian special services and data on assistance provided to Ukraine. The user claimed that the information was obtained by him from classified documents from the National Security Agency, Central Intelligence Agency and other US intelligence agencies.
“It appears the first leak occurred less than 48 hours after the invasion began.”
Unlike the closed group Thug Shaker Central, which was known until now, the address of the second group was listed on its public YouTube channel, and could have been accessed “easily within seconds”.
A chain of digital evidence collected by the NYT links sensitive messages to Jack Teixeira. The person who leaked the information said he worked in the US Air Force intelligence unit. Details of videos and photos posted by the user match images posted by relatives of Teixeira from North Dayton, Massachusetts.
According to the NYT material, the user posted in this group “detailed written reports on the secret documents themselves … indicating the sources” – the intelligence agencies, where the information came from.
Teixeira’s attorney and representatives from the FBI and Justice Department declined to comment for the post.
According to the New York Times, “the first leak appears to have occurred less than 48 hours after Russia invaded Ukraine.”
Seemingly in an effort to impress other members of the group who questioned his analysis, the leaker wrote: “I have little more than open source information…due to my work in the unit Air Force Intelligence”.
Some of the published intelligence appears to have predicted developments on the battlefield. On March 27, 2022, he shared secret information about the withdrawal of Russian troops from Kiev. This information, according to him, he would have found it “on the site of the NSA”.
“A little important news,” he wrote. “A troop withdrawal west of Kiev could be expected.”
Two days later, the Russian authorities announced the withdrawal of forces from the Kiev region.
Some messages began with an update on the number of victims. The user also reported on the priorities of Ukraine and the activities of Russian special services.
“Sometimes it looked like he was working directly from the military base where he was. In a message, he said he was going to enter an area where security clearances could access secret computer networks known as the Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF).
The question of how exactly Teixera gained access to the documents he is accused of having published was a key question for the investigation. The Department of Justice believes that the accused used his administrative rights related to his work in the field of information technology to access documents.
He also claimed to have access to intelligence from US intelligence partners in allied countries.
“I usually work with people from GCHQ on foreign (intelligence) matters,” he wrote in a September 2022 group chat, referring to Government Communications Headquarters, Britain’s intelligence, security and cyber protection.
A spokesperson for the National Security Agency declined to comment, referring questions to the Justice Department.
At the same time, according to NYT material, Teixeira continued to share information in a larger Discord group chat a month ago.
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