Who is 'Jack the Leaker'? How needle of suspicion had pointed at Teixeira
Airman in the Massachusetts Air National Guard Jack Teixeira, 21, was arrested in a probe into the case of leaked military intelligence, says FBI. Teixeira appeared in court for the first time on Friday facing charges of unauthorizedly retaining and transmitting national defense information and unauthorizedly removing and retaining classified documents.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), on Thursday, made an arrest related to the leak of US military intelligence documents, When a 21-year-old member of the US Air Force National Guard was taken into custody “without incident”. Pentagon officials said they were still assessing the scale and scope of the leak of the classified information on the war in Ukraine, and on its US allies.
An online sleuthing group, Bellingcat, the New York Times and the FBI jointly followed ‘digital breadcrumbs’ leading to a negligent Teixeira who had left a train of breadcrumbs which resulted in his identity being revealed.
A ‘breadcrumb trail’ is a graphical control element used as a navigational aid in user interfaces and on web pages. It allows users to keep track and be aware of their locations within programs, documents, owebsites. Teixeira was charged with unauthorizedly retaining and transmitting national defense information and unauthorizedly removing and retaining classified documents.
Officials have repeatedly warned, however, that some of the documents had been doctored and may be used in disinformation campaigns.On April 9, Bellingcat publicly identified the Discord server where Teixeira allegedly posted the classified documents. The New York Times reportedly matched Texeira’s kitchen where the documents were allegedly photographed to Texeira’s social media profile. Adding intrigue to the already deepening mystery, the Times said its journalists were gathered at the Texeira home in Dighton, Massachusetts when a 6-man-strong FBI team barged into his residence.
The court affidavit signed on Friday by FBI special agent Patrick Lueckenhoff reveals that the investigators were parallelly pushing ahead with their own line of probe and had already honed in on the suspect.
On top of the Thug Shaker Central group, copies of some of the documents surfaced on another Discord server of well-known YouTuber Wow Mao. Other than Teixeira sharing them, others may have picked them up, exposing themselves and by implication, the suspect himself, much beyond the close-knit group of 20-odd users of the original Discord group. There onwards, the leaked papers surface on online Right-wing message board 4chan and smaller Telegram constituents, including one that had an edited image with incorrect casualty figures.
THE LOCATION OF THE DOCUMENTS
OVER THE PAST FEW WEEKS, the leaked documents have showed up on many social media platforms. Independent investigative news portal Bellingcat said the papers were likely to have been posted initially on lesser-known Internet sites, including a popular messaging board for gaming buffs. Closer scrutiny followed after it was found that they were posted more widely to the far-Right noticeboard, 4chan, and pro-Russian messaging groups on Telegram.
According to the Times, most of the documents looked like they had been folded to fit smaller dimensions before being taken away. It is extremely likely that they were taken out of their location and stuffed into a pocket or a briefcase.
WHAT DID THE PAPERS REVEAL?
- Ukraine’s Air Defence is at Risk: Ukraine is, at present, using the Soviet-era S-300 and Bulk air defence systems to battle the Russian Air Force. But the leaked papers reveal that the country would likely exhaust its firepower by mid-April or May if it is not supplied with enough munitions. This could provide an impetus to Russia’s war effort, and that country could use its fighter jets and bombers to penetrate Ukraine’s feeble air defence to tilt the outcome of the battle in its favour.
- Ukraine Narrowly Escaped Defeat: The leaked papers reveal that the Russian forces nearly encircled the Ukrainian military in Bakhmut town—the scene of fierce fighting for several months now— in late-February 2023. Ukraine’s Director of Military Intelligence described the situation as “catastrophic”. Another senior-ranking Ukrainian military official said the soldiers’ morale was low at the time as there was not enough ammunition to carry on the fight. The Ukrainian forces did succeed in the end to push away the Russian troops with the help of its elite units, but the strategic cost for Ukraine was extremely high since it has been looking to save its best-trained and equipped soldiers for a counter-offensive that it expects to come in the next few weeks or months.
- Russian Incentive to Destroy Tanks: In an attempt to boost the morale of its soldiers, Russia has been offering huge monetary benefits. The leaked papers revealed, “Financial incentives would be offered for the capture and destruction of foreign tanks, and videos of tanks being destroyed would be widely distributed to reduce the confidence of Ukraine and the West and reassure Russian troops of their ability to overcome this new weaponry.”
LIFE AND TIMES OF TEIXEIRA
VIDEO GRABS SHOWED heavily armed officers in Massachusetts ushering a young man—wearing a grey T-shirt and bright red shorts, his head bowed and hair close-cropped—into a waiting car.
While the authorities have parted with very few details on Teixeira, information about his life started appearing in the US media following his arrest.
Teixeira was a member of the intelligence wing of the state National Guard, says a New York Times report. According to the National Guard’s official Facebook page, says Teixeira was one among many who were promoted to Airman First Class in July 2022. He had joined the Air National Guard in September 2019 as a ‘Cyber Transport Systems Journeyman’. His job was to help in the maintenance of the Air Force’s “vast, global communications network”—be it as a repairman for the network hub at a base in the state, or as a worker laying a fibre-optic cable at an overseas installation.
Teixeira was also the leader of a small gaming chat group on the Discord platform. The Washington Post had earlier reported that the online group was formed in 2020 amid the raging coronavirus pandemic. The two-dozen-odd young men and boys formed a tight-knit group united by their love for military gear, guns and religion. Membership was by invitation only, the Post said.
One member said, “We all grew very close to each other, like a tight-knit family… We depended on each other.” At the centre of that family was Teixeira, whom the members knew as OG.
By Girish Linganna
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IAF to hold 2-day wargame along frontier with Pakistan: NOTAM issued
New Delhi, May 6 (PTI): The Indian Air Force will carry out a two-day mega military exercise along the border with Pakistan from Wednesday that will involve all the frontline fighter jets including Rafale, Su-30 and Jaguar aircraft, sources in the defence establishment said on Tuesday.
The exercise is taking place amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan over the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people.
India's civil aviation authorities have already issued a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) for the major air exercise that will largely take place along the southern and western section of the Indo-Pakistan border.
India's frontline fighter jets including the Rafale, Su-30 MKI, MiG-29, Mirage-2000, Tejas and AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) aircraft are set to feature in the exercise, the sources said.
In the course of the exercise, the IAF will simulate enemy targets on ground and in the air with deadly precision, they said.
The militaries of both India and Pakistan are on a high alert following rising tensions between the two nations.
Soon after the Pahalgam terror attack, India, citing "cross-border linkages" to the strike, promised severe punishment to those involved in it.
In a high-level meeting with the top defence brass on April 29, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the armed forces have "complete operational freedom" to decide on the mode, targets and timing of India's response to the terror attack.
Air Chief Marshal A P Singh met Prime Minister Modi on Sunday and the Chief of Air Staff briefed him about the IAF's operational readiness.
On Saturday, Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi apprised the prime minister on the overall situation in the critical sea lanes in the Arabian Sea.
