21-Year-Old Airman Jack Teixeira Arrested For Ukraine Document Leak

Topline

A 21-year-old member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard named Jack Teixeira was arrested Thursday in connection with a massive leak of secret U.S. documents, Attorney General Merrick Garland said at a news conference, after Teixeira allegedly shared records on the war in Ukraine and other sensitive intelligence with an online group primarily composed of teenagers who bonded over racist memes and video games.

A 21-year-old Massachusetts airman appears to be behind a leak of secret Ukraine war documents, … [+] according to the New York Times. (Photo by STAFF/AFP via Getty Images)

AFP via Getty Images

Key Facts

Teixeira was arrested by the FBI in North Dighton, a small town in southeastern Massachusetts, the New York Times reported.

Garland said he was taken into custody Thursday afternoon “without incident.”

Teixeira works in the intelligence wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, according to the New York Times, citing documents and interviews with members of the online group.

The Washington Post on Wednesday identified the leader of the group–Thug Shaker Central–as the person who leaked the documents, citing a member of the Discord group.

The Times reported margins on photographs of some of the leaked records matched pictures posted to social media of Teixeira’s childhood home.

It’s not clear if Teixeira has an attorney and he could not immediately be reached for comment.

What We Don’t Know

It’s not clear whether Teixeira may have leaked the documents to individuals outside of the group, which prompted wide circulation on social media. A member of Thug Shaker Central told the Times the information was meant to inform the group and was not supposed to be shared beyond the small circle of 20-30 people, suggesting someone other than Teixeira may have posted the documents elsewhere.

Crucial Quote

“There’s a full-blown investigation going on as you know, with the Intelligence Committee and the Justice Department, and they’re getting close,” President Joe Biden said Thursday at a news conference in Ireland.

Key Background

The records surfaced earlier this year and were widely shared online, including on Russian-language Telegram channels. The documents reportedly contained information about the Ukraine war, including assessments of Ukrainian and Russian battlefield struggles and plans for U.S. and NATO forces to help Ukraine gear up for a counteroffensive against Russia, though they didn’t include detailed battle strategies. Information about weapons systems, casualty estimates and the status of the heavily contested eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut were also reportedly included in the documents. Other records documented the brutal Russian mercenary group Wagner’s apparent attempts to buy weapons from NATO-aligned Turkey and expand into Haiti, revealed a purported plan for Egypt—a key U.S. partner—to secretly sell rockets to Russia and offered insight into U.S. spying on foes like Russia and friends like South Korea alike.

Tangent

The leak has reportedly caused a furor inside the Pentagon, even as officials have suggested the information in the documents is either not critical or outdated. Biden said he doesn’t believe the documents contain anything “that is of great consequence,” while an aide to to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called it nothing more than “dust in the eyes.”