MA Guardsman Arrested In Leak Of Secret Government Docs: DOJ

MASSACHUSETTS —A 21-year-old Massachusetts Air National Guardsman suspected of leaking classified intelligence documents that have appeared online in recent weeks was arrested Thursday, Attorney General Merrick Garland confirmed at a brief news conference.

"Today, the Justice Department arrested Jack Douglas Teixeira in connection with an investigation into alleged unauthorized removal, retention and transmission of classified national defense information," Garland said. "Teixeira is an employee of the United States Air Force National Guard."

Garland, who was joined by Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco and FBI Director Paul Abbate, did not take questions.

In a statement shared shortly after Garland's announcement, the FBI's Boston division said Teixeira was removed from a home in North Dighton.

"The FBI is continuing to conduct authorized law enforcement activity at the residence," the statement continued. "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."

Reports from the scene showed a large police presence in North Dighton at the time the 21-year-old was taken into custody. Video from WCVB showed a man putting his hands on his head and walking backward to a team of armed law enforcement officials who take him into custody. The same man was seen sitting on a porch and reading a book earlier in the day as officials gathered nearby, according to WCVB.

Teixeira's initial court appearance will be at the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, officials said.

The New York Times was the first to identify Teixeira as the accused leaker and member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard. The paper reported Teixeira is accused of leading a gaming chat group made up of around 20 or 30 young men and teenagers, according to interviews and documents obtained by The New York Times.

According to The Washington Post, Teixeira was arrested hours after people familiar with the case identified him as the primary focus of the investigation.

In the group—called Thug Shaker Central—Teixeira leaked the classified documents over the last few months, the Times reported. Other topics of discussion apparently included guns, racist memes, and video games.

The documents, which were found online last month, revealed details of the U.S. spying on Russia’s war efforts in Ukraine, secret assessments of Ukraine’s combat power, and intelligence gathering on America’s allies, NBC reported.

It’s possible the leak may have started on a site called Discord, a social media platform popular with people playing online games. In one of those forums, originally created to talk about a range of topics, members would debate the war in Ukraine. According to one member of the chat, an unidentified poster shared documents that the poster claimed were classified, first typing them out with the poster’s own thoughts, then, as of a few months ago, uploading images of folded papers.

Discord has said it was cooperating with law enforcement.

The Biden administration has been working to assess the diplomatic and national security consequences of the leaked documents since they were first reported last week. A top Pentagon spokesman told reporters earlier this week that the disclosures present a “very serious risk to national security,” and the Justice Department opened an investigation to identify the person responsible.

“We're getting close,” President Joe Biden told reporters in Ireland on Thursday. He said that though he was concerned that sensitive government documents had been disclosed, "there’s nothing contemporaneous that I’m aware of that is of great consequence.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.