WASHINGTON – A 21-year-old Massachusetts Air National Guardsman who posted highly sensitive Pentagon documents online knew about weekly intelligence briefings — despite the fact that he was only meant to maintain HVAC units and answer phones, according to an Air Force investigation.
The access Jack Teixeira was granted was just one of several glaring mistakes that led to disciplinary action against 15 members of his Guard — including his former unit commander — for failing to adequately supervise troops and warn authorities of espionage-like activities.
Teixeira was charged in June with six counts of knowingly storing and transmitting national military information after illegally obtaining and sharing dozens of classified documents online – including several papers related to the position of the Ukrainian military. Teixeira has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Monday’s report found that the failure of Teixeira’s colleagues and superiors in the 102nd Intelligence Wing allowed the private to collect and disclose sensitive information for more than a year without being fully detected.
Jack Teixeira, an Air National Guardsman.
“Evidence indicated that several members of Teixeira’s unit, reporting chain and leadership had information about as many as four separate incidents of his questionable activity,” the report said. “A small number of unit members had a more complete picture of Teixeira’s intelligence-seeking behavior and deliberately failed to report the full details of this security concern/incident as outlined in DoD security policy, fearing that security officials might be ‘overreacting.’
“Had any of these members come forward, security officials would likely have facilitated blocking system/facility access and alerting the appropriate authorities, reducing the length and depth of unauthorized and illegal exposure within months,” he added.
Although Teixeira was arrested in April, he reportedly began posting rewritten “paragraphs of text” containing confidential information on Discord, a social media platform for gamers, as early as February 2022.
After going undetected for nearly a year, Teixeira’s leaks escalated in January, when he began “posting photos of documents bearing Top Secret classification markings and describing the current status of military conflicts, including military locations.”
Law enforcement officers guard the road leading to the home of Massachusetts National Guard Airman Jack Teixeira on Thursday, April 13, 2023 in North Dighton, Massachusetts. James Keivom
‘Questionable activity’
Although the report found that Teixeira acted alone in leaking the material, investigators also revealed “several factors, both direct and indirect, that contributed to the unauthorized disclosure.”
Among them is the “inappropriate” initiative by Teixeira’s unit that “encourages [IT specialists] to receive weekly intelligence briefings to better understand the mission and importance of keeping classified networks operational.”
The problem, the report said, was that low-ranking airmen like Teixeira had received sensitive national security information they didn’t “need to know.”
The 21-year-old posted highly sensitive Pentagon documents online. WBZ
“This ‘know your reason’ effort is inappropriate because it provides a higher level of classified information than is necessary to understand the unit’s mission and creates ambiguity with regard to questioning the individual’s need to know,” the report said.
During one such briefing in October 2022, Teixeira “asked very detailed questions and also attempted to answer questions using suspected TS-SCI information” that he was not supposed to know, the report said.
While the suspicious activity raised red flags among leadership at the briefing, the pilot brushed aside their questions by claiming the information “is also available through ‘open sources.'”
“Contrary to his claims, the information is not believed to be publicly available and Teixeira’s supervisor was again advised of his suspected intelligence-seeking behavior,” the report said.
Images contained in the Justice Department’s motion for continued pretrial detention of Jack Teixeira, show electronics found in a trash can at his mother and stepfather’s home in North Dighton, Mass. AP
In response, the leaders ordered Teixeira “to ‘cease and desist’ intelligence ‘dive in,'” but did not report the incident to the “proper security officials,” according to the report.
However, the October incident is not the first time the private has been caught knowing too much.
In “July or August 2022”, a member of Teixeira’s unit realized he was looking at a top secret document on the military’s secure private intranet. But while the incident was reported to Teixeira’s supervisor, “the incident was not documented in writing.”
That September, Teixeira was again caught “viewing intelligence products and … writing information on notes after it,” according to the report.
An affidavit in support of a criminal complaint and arrest warrant against Jack Teixeira is pictured Friday, April 14, 2023. AP
“Teixeira was confronted about the note and ordered to shred it,” the investigator said. “However, it was never confirmed what was written on the note or whether it was shredded.”
Although the incident was documented in a written memorandum for Teixeira’s service record and he was instructed to “stop all research where he does not need to know,” it was again not reported to the proper security officials responsible for checking insider threats. .
That behavior continued until late January of this year, when fellow Guardsmen again caught Teixeira “viewing intelligence content again after being ordered to cease and desist.” Again, a supervisor was informed and added another memorandum to the private record, but this time “more senior members of the squadron’s leadership” were also informed and “informed of three of the previous four incidents.”
Teixeira, right, appears in US District Court in Boston, Friday, April 14, 2023. AP
Although the information was reported to security officials, they were given a “significantly minimized version of the concern” and were not provided with a copy of the memorandum “or an accurate description of the security concern.
“As a result, additional security measures were not taken and no investigation or further investigation took place,” the report said. “After interviewing higher up the supervisory chain, it appears that knowledge of this security incident was not fully disclosed above the squadron level.”
Investigators further stated that the charges against Teixeira were downgraded “after some internal discussions.”
“Three individuals in the unit who understood their duty to report specific information about the search for intelligence and indications of threats within Teixeira to security officials, willfully failed to do so,” he said.
Teixeira, 21, is a member of the 102nd Intelligence wing located at Joint Base Cape Cod. James Keivom
Contributing factor
Investigators also identified several policy and cultural failures – from misconceptions to a lack of supervision – that allowed Teixeira to commit his crimes.
For example, in addition to the unit’s repeated failure to follow Pentagon and Air Force directives that “actual and potential compromises … must be reported to the appropriate security officials,” some troops “mistakenly believe they can report violations to their supervisors” instead.
Investigators further alleged that some in the unit combined the ability to access sensitive documents with the authority to do so. Although Teixeira’s position as IT support gave him access to secure networks, he did not have approval to actually view their secret contents.
“Mistakenly, many staff ignore the need to have a legitimate need to know and do not ensure that the information is properly determined to be essential to the effective performance of their duties and official duties,” the report said. “Computer/IT specialists need system access to perform system maintenance, but do not need access to content or intelligence products to maintain systems.”
Additionally, there was a lack of surveillance during Teixeira’s night shift that allowed him to take advantage of his network access, according to the report, which found “any” person working overnight at Otis Air National Guard Base on Cape Cod “had ample opportunity to access [secure] site and print high volumes of products without oversight or detection.”
A compound surrounds what is believed to be the home of Massachusetts Water National Guard Jack Teixeira. New York Post
“When there is no reconnaissance mission at night, a crew of three, as Teixeira is, is the only personnel in open storage. [top-secret/sensitive compartmentalized information] facilities,” he said. “In addition, there are no authorization controls in place to monitor print jobs and no business rules for print products.”
While “the main role of IT specialists is to ensure that the Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning system is operating properly and answering the phone”, they are sometimes “required to perform preventive maintenance checks and other tasks, which require individuals to be on top of them.” possessed for hours, unsupervised in other parts of the facility.”
Although the names of all 15 individuals punished for the failure were not made public Monday, former 102nd Intelligence Wing commander Col. Sean Riley, has been removed from command as a result of the investigation.
In addition, the commander of the unit’s subordinate Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group, Col. Enrique Dovalo, received a citation “for concerns with unit culture and adherence to policies and standards,” according to service officials.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
