YEREVAN, APRIL 14, ARTSAKHPRESS. A member of the U.S. Massachusetts Air National Guard was arrested by the FBI on Thursday in connection with the leaking of classified documents that have been posted online, CNN reported citing U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland.
The arrest of Jack Teixeira, 21, comes following a fast-moving search by the U.S. government for the identity of the leaker who posted classified documents to a social media platform popular with video gamers called Discord.
Teixeira was arrested in Massachusetts without incident, Garland said, and will be arraigned in federal court there. “This investigation is ongoing. We will share more information at the appropriate time,” the attorney general said, declining to answer questions.
The leaked documents posted to social media, some of which have been obtained by CNN, included detailed U.S. intelligence assessments of allies and adversaries alike, including on the state of the war in Ukraine and the challenges Kyiv and Moscow face as the war appears stuck in a stalemate.
Multiple US officials told CNN that Teixeira is believed to be the leader of the group where a trove of classified documents had been posted.
The Air Force released service details for Teixeira, an Airman 1st Class.
Teixeira is an enlisted airman at the Massachusetts Air National Guard, according to details from his service record released by the Air Force Thursday. He joined the service in September 2019 and his official job is Cyber Transport Systems journeyman. According to the Air Force, Cyber Transport Systems specialists are tasked with making sure the service’s “vast, global communications network” is “operating properly.”
