(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard’s intelligence division, was arrested by FBI agents on Thursday for his alleged role in the leaking of U.S. intelligence classified documents on the internet.
The New York Times, along with other journalists, claimed it first identified Teixeira, whom they quickly labeled as a “Christian” man who loved “racist” memes. The Times reportedly relied on photos posted on social media, gaming profiles and other publicly available information to identify the suspect.
The DOJ’s delayed capture of the suspect and The Times’s role in identifying the suspect prompted conservative voices to criticize Biden officials.
“This guy was a Christian, anti-war, just wanted to inform some of his friends about what’s going on,” a person tied to the suspect told The Times. “We have some people in our group who are in Ukraine. We like fighting games, we like war games.”
“A 21-year old gamer might have just prevented WW3 and so of course the government and their media puppets are trying to paint him as some nefarious Russian double agent,” Human Events Senior Editor Jack Posobiec tweeted mocking the Biden administration. “You got embarrassed by a kid, GAE Own it.”
A 21-year old gamer might have just prevented WW3 and so of course the government and their media puppets are trying to paint him as some nefarious Russian double agent. Same playbook different day
You got embarrassed by a kid, GAE
Own it
— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) April 13, 2023
Author Glenn Greenwald responded to the arrest raising doubts about the veracity of the suspect’s role. “Bellingcat, funded by the US Security State and the EU, worked with the NY Times to do the FBI’s work of finding the 21-year-old leaker of classified documents. They got ’em!,” Greenwald tweeted on Thursday. “This year’s FBI agent of the Year will be jointly awarded to the NYT, WPost and Bellingcat.”
The only thing weirder (and more twisted) than watching self-proclaimed journalists be the leading advocates for censorship is watching them eagerly do the FBI’s work of catching people who leak classified documents.
I hope the real function of these corporations is clear.
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) April 13, 2023
“Say what you will about the Ukraine leaks, but a 21-year-old intel analyst just exposed Joe Biden and the entire woke military industrial complex as a propaganda riddled fraud,” conservative TV host Charlie Kirk tweeted. “LIARS!”.
Say what you will about the Ukraine leaks, but a 21-year-old intel analyst just exposed Joe Biden and the entire woke military industrial complex as a propaganda riddled fraud.
LIARS!
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) April 13, 2023
CNN conservative commentator Scott Jennings questioned why the 21-year-old had access to classified documents.
Why does a 21 year old national guardsman in Massachusetts have access to our most sensitive military secrets in the first place?
— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) April 13, 2023
Free Beacon investigative reporter Chuck Ross responded to the arrest, calling it “insane.” “Just absolutely insane, if true, that a 21-year-old Air National Guardsman would have access to this kind of sensitive intel,” Ross tweeted. “And that the New York Times found him before the FBI.”
Just absolutely insane, if true, that a 21-year-old Air National Guardsman would have access to this kind of sensitive intel. https://t.co/Kyt3aHoSNZ
— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) April 13, 2023
President Joe Biden had attempted to dismiss concerns that the leaks presented a national security threat to the U.S., claiming hours before the arrested that federal officials were getting “close.”
“There’s a full-blown investigation going on, as you know, with the intelligence community and the Justice Department [DOJ], and they’re getting close,” Biden told the press. “I’m not concerned about the leak. I’m concerned that it happened. But there’s nothing contemporaneous that I’m aware of that’s of great consequences.”
The U.S. intelligence documents were posted online last month and exposed details behind U.S. efforts in spying on Russia and other American allies, including South Korea and Israel, NBC News reported Thursday.
The FBI has yet to comment on how they were able to identify and/or if they relied on the Times to find the suspect.
Some details of how @AricToler and the @nytimes‘s team pieced together clues in the photos of leaked documents to identify the leaker.https://t.co/wiWf2sGVWI pic.twitter.com/l2HeP4vZ4D
— Eliot Higgins (@EliotHiggins) April 13, 2023
