President Biden praised law enforcement for the arrest of 21-year-old National Guard Airman Jack Teixeira, the accused leaker behind a massive release of highly classified documents in an online gamer chat room.
Mr. Biden said in a statement Friday that officials are still working to determine the validity of the documents containing sensitive information and some embarrassing details on a variety of topics, and has directed officials to further secure the nation’s top secrets.
“I commend the rapid action taken by law enforcement to investigate and respond to the recent dissemination of classified U.S. government documents,” Mr. Biden said in a statement. “While we are still determining the validity of those documents, I have directed our military and intelligence community to take steps to further secure and limit distribution of sensitive information, and our national security team is closely coordinating with our partners and allies.”
The FBI arrested Mr. Teixeira at his Massachusetts home on Thursday. Mr. Teixeira, an IT specialist, was assigned to the Guard’s intelligence wing during the time of the leaks. He is facing federal charges of unauthorized removal of classified national defense information.
It is unclear why Mr. Teixeira had access to the highly classified intelligence containing U.S. assessments of Ukrainian military operations, internal political conversations with U.S. allies and a range of other sensitive national security information restricted to the highest levels of the defense and intelligence communities.
Mr. Biden, who is on a four-day visit to Ireland, downplayed the impact of the leaks on Thursday, saying that the information released was unlikely to pose grave damage to U.S. operations.
“I’m not concerned about the leak,” Mr. Biden told reporters. “I’m concerned that it happened. But there’s nothing contemporaneous that I’m aware of that’s of great consequence.”
Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said on Thursday that the military is reviewing its protocols governing access to sensitive information, but stressed that the allegations against Mr. Teixeira suggest he violated laws already in place.
“It is important to understand that we do have stringent guidelines in place for safeguarding classified and sensitive information,” Gen. Ryder said. “This was a deliberate criminal act, a violation of those guidelines.”
— Ben Wolfgang, Guy Taylor and Mike Glenn contributed to this story.
Source:Washington Times
