The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation today arrested a 21-year-old Air Force National Guard member over the leak of classified documents.

Jack Teixeira, an Airman First Class with the 102nd Intelligence Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, was arrested on allegations that he distributed secret files from the Pentagon that exposed sensitive data about U.S. allies and intelligence assessments on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The documents started appearing several months ago but gained widespread attention when they were heavily shared on social media over the last two weeks.

It’s alleged that Teixeira shared the documents on a Discord group called “Thug Shaker Central.” On the group, Teixeira, who went by the username of “OG,” began sharing transcribed notes of classified intelligence as early as 2020 while claiming that he spent part of his time in a secure government facility that prohibited cell phones and cameras.

According to The Hill, interest in what Teixeira was sharing waned until near the end of last year, when he reportedly shifted to taking pictures of the classified documents to maintain the group’s attention on government secrets.

How the documents shared by Teixeira found their way onto social media is not clear. A group member claimed that they were not meant to be shared beyond the group and that someone other than Teixeira may have posted the documents elsewhere.

The obvious questions that arise are: How did Teixeira have access to top-secret U.S. security assessments, how did he manage to take pictures of said documents and, most important, how was he able to do so without being noticed for months and possibly years? This does not appear to be a case of a rogue hacker but a young man with physical access to far more documents than he should have.

Michael Butler, a professor of political science at Clark University who specializes in foreign policy and security studies, told The Hill that the exposure might point to systemic weaknesses and vulnerabilities at the Pentagon.

“Information is highly decentralized [and] can be moved very easily and quickly at no cost,” Butler said, allowing actors “to exploit vulnerabilities in the system before the Department of Defense or intelligence agencies can close them again.”

How he got the documents may or may not be answered in court. The FBI and Biden administration officials only praised the arrest while so far not mentioning the blatant serious security breach.

“Since late last week, the FBI has aggressively pursued investigative leads and today’s arrest exemplifies our continued commitment to identifying, pursuing and holding accountable those who betray our country’s trust and put our national security at risk,” an FBI spokesperson said in a statement.

Teixeira is expected to be charged under the Espionage Act, which specifies that it’s a crime to transmit classified U.S. defense information. He is due to appear before a court in Boston on Friday.

Photo: Dave Newman/Flickr