Air Force Removes Intelligence Mission From Leaker’s Former Unit

(AmericanProsperity.com) – Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall told senators on Tuesday that the Air Force has officially eliminated the intelligence mission from the unit where Jack Teixeira had access to numerous top-secret documents that he eventually leaked online. Teixeira is a 21-year-old Massachusetts Air National Guardsman who the FBI accused of being the person behind the classified Pentagon leaks.

Kendall also explained he has directed the Air Force’s inspector general to investigate the 102nd Intelligence of the Air National Guard Intelligence Wing Cape Cod to determine if anything associated with the leak went wrong. He pointed out this is the place where Teixeira served. Moreover, Kendall said that until the investigation is finished, the 102nd Intelligence of the Air National Guard won’t be performing its intelligence mission, which has already been reassigned to other groups within the service.

The 21-year-old Guardsman was charged last week with violating different statutes that forbid the unauthorized removal of top-secret documents, including the Espionage Act, about the publication of over 100 documents to a Discord group. The material he posted ranged from intelligence gleaned from espionage operations on US allies to secretive snapshots regarding the invasion of Ukraine.

On Tuesday, members of the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee asked Air Force leaders what exactly happened and why the military has such a massive blind spot. Air Force Chief Staff General C.Q. Brown explained that even when the service has the best type of protection to prevent top-secret documents from being stolen, the “process fell apart” in this case.

Both Brown and Kendall told lawmakers that the service is already conducting an in-depth review of the security practices to prevent this situation from happening again. The review comes a day after US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin ordered a military-wide investigation at every facility that handles top-secret information. Austin added that officials will have to report within 45 how America’s secrets are being shared, accessed and stored.

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