Making An Espionage Impression

"It is fairly commonplace for individuals of his age to have access to classified information,"

"Often people at his level are supporting senior leaders, and he might have a 'need to know' if he was prepping senior leaders or putting together briefing books," 

"It does raise questions about how we are training individuals on how to handle classified information. It's exposing gaps in the system that will be looked at … but there's also a level of trust that you place in these individuals, that they are there for the right reasons."

Alexandria Seymour, associate fellow, Technology and National Security Program, Center for a New American Security think tank

"It's part of this drive to get as much information as possible for analysts to use."

"And that drive means that you are potentially opening up access to information that could be leaked."

"To have greater restrictions on information means more of a move towards a traditional type of strict need-to-know principles."

Dan Lomas, senior lecturer in intelligence and security studies, Brunel University

Suspected classified document leaker and U.S National Guardsman, Jack Teixeira, is taken into custody by FBI agents in North Dighton, Mass., April 13, 2023.  WCVB

"[I commend] the rapid action taken by law enforcement to investigate and respond to the recent dissemination of classified U.S. government documents."

"While we are still determining the validity of those documents, I have directed our military and intelligence community to take steps to further secure and limit distribution of sensitive information, and our national security team is closely coordinating with our partners and allies." 

U.S. President Joe Biden

This is the fourth time in recent decades that American high-security secret files have been accessed by trusted personnel with security credentials to have accessed files and documents not to be seen outside the confines of American intelligence, but which have been released to the scrutiny of the public at large at home and internationally. In most of these revelatory leaks those releasing secret files did so as a matter of personal principle in the belief that the public should be aware of what was happening behind the scenes. In this latest case, the release appears to have been effected by an emotionally immature man who sought attention and admiration from his peers.

The suspect in this latest release of secret American intelligence files, 21-year-old Jack Teixeira, comes from a military family, himself a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guards, now accused of having released to the public highly classified military documents. He was arrested and a day later appeared before a court to face charges under the Espionage Act, of having, though unauthorized, removed and retained classified and national defence information. Seemingly motivated by the irresistible urge to prove he had access to such documents.

The thoughtless act of a narcissist. Someone who wanted to be the centre of attention. And now he is up front and centre of attention. Perhaps not quite in the way he would have wished to be. He appeared to have begun his posting of document images, annoyed that other users of the clandestine social gamers' group he was part of failed to take his actions seriously in that they did not recognize the enormity of his transgression of the trust placed in him by his upgraded security assessment that enabled him access to the highly sensitive documents.

He had initially taken to typing out the documents he would post, but ended up with the feeling they weren't having the deeply admiring impression he meant them to. Which was when he reverted to photographing the documents themselves and posting those. And this went on for months; highly sensitive, secret military documents available for anyone to scrutinize in the international community. The Pentagon unaware of the situation until an investigation was undertaken and published by The New York Times.

 

Which sparked a weeklong criminal investigation into the public disclosure of government records, a breach exposing sensitive information on many issues, most notably, the war in Ukraine to the world at large. A capricious emotional pique upturning the nation's security and the trust of its international security partners. U.S. Magistrate Judge David Hennesy ordered Teixeira  to be held until a following hearing, when he appeared in court Friday for a brief proceeding. He is innocent until proven guilty, and is as yet only a 'suspect', but his future does not look bright.

A Defence Department official advised that as an information technology specialist responsible for military communications networks, the Guardsman now in prison would have held a high level of security clearance. The Pentagon is set to conduct a review of its "intelligence access, accountability and control procedures" with a view to preventing a similar such leak from re-occurring. It is believed by investigators that Teixeira led a private online chat group on the Discord channel platform. 

This is a social media platform people who play online games tend to gravitate to. The FBI took possession of billing records from Discord which helped investigators to identify Teixeira as a suspect. An FBI affidavit disclosed that an indioidual familiar with Teixerra's online posts informed investigators of a username linked to Teixeira posting classified information beginning in December. Teixera took home with him documents to photograph and post once he "had become concerned that he may be discovered making the transcriptions of text in the workplace".

His actions remained undetected until April 6, when the Pentagon was alerted by the first published story of the documents breach. In their investigation it was discovered that Teixeira had searched online for the word "leak" in an effort to find what his leaked documents were leading to. Which gave the FBI another clue regarding his involvement. The group of gamers linked to Teixeira held certain issues in common regard: gaming enthusiasts, devout Christians, gun-lovers, racism and antisemitism.

Jack Douglas Teixeira, a U.S. Air Force National Guard airman accused of leaking highly classified military intelligence records online, makes his initial appearance before a federal judge in Boston, on April 14, 2023, in a courtroom sketch.

Margaret Small/Reuters

Sleepwalking Intelligence Alerts : Dereliction of Duty

"None of the intelligence we received predicted what actually occurred."

"We properly planned for a mass demonstration with possible violence. What we got was a military-style coordinated assault on my officers and a violent takeover of the Capitol Building."

"I actually just in the last 24 hours was informed by the department that we actually had received that report."

"[Intelligence reports compiled from information from the Capitol Police, the FBI, the Secret Service, the Department of Homeland Security and Washington Metropolitan Police showed that] the level of probability of acts of civil disobedience/arrests [on Jan. 6 ranged from] remote [to] improbable."

"In addition, the daily intelligence report indicated that 'the secretary of homeland security has not issued an elevated or imminent alert at this time'."

"Without the intelligence to properly prepare, the USCP was significantly outnumbered and left to defend the Capitol against an extremely violent mob."

"I notified the two sergeant-at-arms by 1:09 p.m. that I urgently needed support and asked them to declare a state of emergency and authorize the National Guard. I was advised by Mr. Irving that he needed to run it up the chain of command. I continued to follow up with Mr. Irving, who was with Mr. Stenger at the time, and he advised that he was waiting to hear back from congressional leadership but expected authorization at any moment."

Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund

 

"That's very concerning whether or not [there are] procedures for the head of the intelligence on the U.S. Capitol Police to get the intelligence report, to review it, especially when there were significant other indications of potential violence."

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.)  

"What the FBI sent, ma'am, on Jan. 5 was in the form of an email."

"[I would think a warning] that something as violent as an insurrection at the Capitol would warrant a phone call or something."

Robert Contee, acting chief, Washington police

"We did discuss whether the intelligence warranted having troops at the Capitol."

"The collective judgement at that time was no -- the intelligence did not warrant that."

Paul Irving, former sergeant-at-arms, House of Representatives and Senate

 

The United States was and is in a turmoil of political, ideological fundamental social disequilibrium. There was so much grumbling, anger, threats, obvious polarization within the population, divisions between rural and urban Americans on the politics they chose under their system of democratic Republicanism, an overall level of alert awareness should have been front and centre in all plans for the January 6 Congressional certification of the election win of Joe Biden for the U.S. presidency.

 

Ever since the October election and the hugely disputed results, the undercurrent of voter fury, the continued incitement to reject the win as unlawful, conceived in a series of corrupt processes, the din on social media of ardent Trump supporters who vowed they would never accept a Democratic win over the incumbent Republican, mirrored in part the reaction of the Democratic furious over the 2015 ascendancy of a Republican candidate to the U.S. presidency. The non-stop efforts to decertify President Trump's win saw its reflection in the more recent obverse. 

The difference, of course, was that while the Democrats used all defamatory means within the law to express their anger and disappointment, the Republicans saw fit to go outside the law to express theirs. They were in actual fact, doing the bidding of the man they were loyal to, who obliquely instructed them in how to proceed, and they obliged. That violent thugs also took part in the effort at an uprising in the seat of American governance should have been predictable.

 

 

And while President Trump saw fit to urge his followers to violently invade Congress, his vice-president was aghast and refused his president's order to oppose Congressional validation of the Biden win, becoming an instant traitor to the cause, and a target for violent abuse. Lawmakers on both sides of the House failed to cover themselves with glory; all too many among them instead behaved like rioters themselves, stopping short of emulating the intruders, paralyzed with fear. All, however, stoked the fires of national fury that resulted in the rampaging mob desecrating Congress.

The FBI had issued a warning notice of the potential for a protest by supporters of Donald Trump  which had the capacity to become violent. The recipient of the notice was the U.S. Capitol Police which gave them ample time to take necessary proactive steps before the assault occurred. Unfortunately top officials in charge of Congress security happened not to have noticed the heads-up. 

 

We've seen this before. When there was a lack of communication and therefore warning, between the CIA and the FBI prior to the 9-11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.

 

 

Two Senate panels studying the failures linked to the January attack on the Capitol building heard testimony that gives no credit to those tasked with the security of the building and protection of its inmates, in particular at a crucial time in the turnover of administrations. They were quite simply unprepared for hundreds of Trump loyalists in tactical gear storming the building. 

 

Conflicting accounts of discussions prior to the assault lingered on whether the National Guard be called in for support and whether to do so would slur the reputation of an open Capitol in injured pride as a free and open democracy, for the American public.

Yet the FBI's Norfolk Virginia office sent out a warning notice the day before giving ample warning that extremists were preparing a violent offence the day to follow, in an effort to stave off the departure of President Trump as Joe Biden prepared to ascend to the presidency and accompanying occupation of the White House. 

Shay Horse/AP