Intelligence Leak Exposes US Spying

[Sunsilver]

The relevant documents were posted online, and at first, didn't get any attention until the New York Times was alerted to their presence. Since many of them relate to the war with the Ukraine, it's obvious this leak is not related to Donald Trump classified documents scandal.

Hope the gift link to the WaPo works:
This is pretty darn scary!

The article is fairly long, but here's the first few paragraphs:

On Saturday, as U.S. officials and their foreign allies scrambled to understand how dozens of classified intelligence documents had ended up on the internet, they were stunned — and occasionally infuriated — at the extraordinary range of detail the files exposed about how the United States spies on friends and foes alike.

The documents, which appear to have come at least in part from the Pentagon and are marked as highly classified, offer tactical information about the war in Ukraine, including the country’s combat capabilities. According to one defense official, many of the documents seem to have been prepared over the winter for Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and other senior military officials, but they were available to other U.S. personnel and contract employees with the requisite security clearances.

Other documents include analysis from U.S. intelligence agencies about Russia and several other countries, all based on information gleaned from classified sources.

Some interesting info re. the war in the Ukraine:

The documents also demonstrate what has long been understood but never publicly spelled out this precisely: The U.S. intelligence community has penetrated the Russian military and its commanders so deeply that it can warn Ukraine in advance of attacks and reliably assess the strengths and weaknesses of Russian forces.

A single page in the leaked trove reveals that the U.S. intelligence community knew the Russian Ministry of Defense had transmitted plans to strike Ukrainian troop positions in two locations on a certain date in February and that Russian military planners were preparing strikes on a dozen energy facilities and an equal number of bridges in Ukraine.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national ... pvzGBqqheE

[Frelga]

There's a possibility that this was posted by someone inside Pentagon to score a point in an argument on a gaming forum. It appears to originate on a small, and since shut down, Discord server, and reposted from there by a user other than the source of the leak.

Which is just another reminder - never post online anything that you don't want to be posted all over the internet, no matter how private you think the conversation is.

[N.E. Brigand]

While I alluded to this in the Trump et al. classified documents thread, I agree that the former president is probably not connected to these particular leaks.

[Frelga]

I didn't think so either. There is plenty of speculation online, pointing at Charles Flynn among others (Kushner! Gaetz!) but at this point this is only speculation. I am partial to the gaming argument theory, but the more details come out the less likely it seems. This is not like divulging tank specs in a Call if Duty forum, which is supposed to be a real thing that happened.

Another theory is that it is a joint US/Ukrainian psyops, which would pose an interesting conundrum for the Russian military intelligence if it had any.

[N.E. Brigand]

The Washington Post apparently has found the "man behind a massive leak of U.S. government secrets that has exposed spying on allies, revealed the grim prospects for Ukraine’s war with Russia and ignited diplomatic fires for the White House." The article describes him "young" and "charismatic" but also notes that there is video showing him as he "yells a series of racial and antisemitic slurs into the camera, then fires several rounds into a target."

Edit: apparently Bellingcat had this story before the Post did.

[Frelga]

So it does appear that the "gamer posts classified materials in a chat group for clout" is the correct answer. The next question is who posted them outside the relatively small group.

WaPo's framing is disgusting. Love of guns and God charismatic... what? How about "a racist with access to military secrets betrays his country for the dumbest possible reason"?

Edit: apparently Bellingcat had this story before the Post did.

They usually do.

[N.E. Brigand]

Aric Toller of Bellingcat is freelancing for the New York Times, where he's the lead reporter on this story, in which the Times identifies the leader of the forum:

"The national guardsman, whose name is Jack Teixeira, oversaw a private online group named Thug Shaker Central, where about 20 to 30 people, mostly young men and teenagers, came together over a shared love of guns, racist online memes and video games."

To be clear: Teixeira, who is "enlisted in the 102nd Intelligence Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard," is not believed to be the person who posted the classified documents. But it seems pretty clear that U.S. intelligence agencies are going to find that person right quick, if they haven't already done so.

[N.E. Brigand]

That story has been updated four times just in the past 15 minutes. Here's one new update from Times reporter Glenn Thrush:

"The Justice Department has planned no news conference for today, but that could change: Senior law enforcement officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, expect an arrest in the case over the next day or two -- in line with Biden’s statement earlier today that action was imminent."

[N.E. Brigand]

The Times says Teixeira has been arrested. Merrick Garland will make a brief statement soon. My guess is that even if Teixeira isn't the leaker, as the manager of the chat group who also happens to be in the national guard, he had a duty to report the leak.

[N.E. Brigand]

Uh, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Republican of Georgia) suggests that Teixeira was targeted by the Biden administration for being "white, male, Christian, and antiwar" and because "he told the truth about troops being on the ground in Ukraine and a lot more." She goes on to say, "Ask yourself who is the real enemy?"

[N.E. Brigand]

Aric Toller of Bellingcat is freelancing for the New York Times, where he's the lead reporter on this story, in which the Times identifies the leader of the forum:

"The national guardsman, whose name is Jack Teixeira, oversaw a private online group named Thug Shaker Central, where about 20 to 30 people, mostly young men and teenagers, came together over a shared love of guns, racist online memes and video games."

To be clear: Teixeira, who is "enlisted in the 102nd Intelligence Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard," is not believed to be the person who posted the classified documents. But it seems pretty clear that U.S. intelligence agencies are going to find that person right quick, if they haven't already done so.

Either I misunderstood the earlier reporting or it was wrong, because it appears from this affidavit that Teixeira was indeed the leaker.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Either I misunderstood the earlier reporting or it was wrong

The latter.

[Frelga]

This is interesting. Unconfirmed, but shared by the usually reliable Michael Weiss.

Donbass Devushka is a pro-Russian Telegram account with an occasionally disappearing Russian access, who claimed to be in Luhansk. She appears to be a US Navy Clerk who was just discharged. Donbass Devushka was one of the original leakers of the Pentagon documents taken by Jack Teixeria.

It's been revealed that the Discord group where Teixeria posted the document had a number of members outside the US, including Russia.



Update: now published by WSJ, which names Washington-state-based former U.S. enlisted aviation electronics technician Sarah Bils as the blogger who was treated by the vatnik crowd as a reliable source of information from Luhansk.

Social-Media Account Overseen by Former Navy Noncommissioned Officer Helped Spread Secrets

[Dave_LF]

The FBI and DOJ are holding a press conference in NY in 30 minutes to discuss "arrests and charges in a significant national security matter," which is presumably, but not certainly, related to this incident:

[Dave_LF]

Or maybe it's something completely different (though still in line with the thread subject):

BREAKING: The United States Department of Justice just announced huge arrests. These included 2 Complaints that charge 30 officers with the China’s national security force (NPS) and multiple NY residents as well. The NPS has violated our sovereignty including opening a police station in New York City.

In an office building in Chinatown it was discovered that there was an undeclared police station of the Chinese National Police. These individuals were acting as agents of a foreign government and the secret police station was used locate a US resident on US soil as well as take other illegal actions.

Additionally Chinese dissidents were being targeted by an NPS task force via troll farms. They spread conspiracy theories on COVD and US political matters. More details coming.

[N.E. Brigand]

The New York Times has a new report about Jack Teixeira with this headline: "Airman Shared Sensitive Intelligence More Widely and for Longer Than Previously Known." He'd been posting classified information since February 2022 to a different Discord group with 600 users; this "chat room was publicly listed on a YouTube channel and was easily accessed in seconds." Teixeira's posts with leaked information started two days after Russia launched its 2022 invasion into Ukraine.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I was just coming to post that. That is a BFD.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

And now this.

[Sunsilver]

Wow!

[Dave_LF]

And now this:


All MAGA roads lead to Putin.