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Saturday, April 15, 2023

Biden Downplays Security Leaks


The US charged an Air National Guardsman over a massive disclosure of intelligence secrets, an embarrassment that prompted President Joe Biden to clamp down on the spread of classified material and led investigators to probe whether foreign adversaries played any role in the leak.

Bloomberg reports Jack Teixeira, 21, made his first appearance Friday in Boston federal court after agents arrested him for allegedly accessing and disseminating classified national defense information. He faces at least 15 years in prison if convicted. Teixeira, who was refused bail, didn’t enter a plea and was given a public defender.

The leak of dozens of pages of documents has been described as one of the most damaging intelligence disclosures in a decade, and raised the question of how a young, relatively junior airman was able to access up-to-the-minute assessments of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, amid other information. Allies have been muted in their response though some have privately expressed consternation about the US’s apparent inability to keep its secrets safe.


The documents were shared among a small group on the Discord text and video chat app before being picked up and circulated more broadly on the Russia-owned Telegram messaging service. Attorney General Merrick Garland made clear Friday the US wanted the charges to make others think twice before sharing secrets.

“People who sign agreements to be able to receive classified documents acknowledge the importance to national security of not disclosing those documents,” Garland said. “We intend to send that message, how important it is for our national security.”


Biden sought to downplay the severity of the leak earlier this week, saying it didn’t pose a threat to national security. On Friday, he said the US was still determining the validity of the documents. He also directed the military and intelligence agencies “to take steps to further secure and limit distribution of sensitive information,” according to a White House statement.

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