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☆ Russia's space program is crumbling because of US sanctions and the rise of SpaceX, but it's being replaced by China's rapid growth, leaked US intel says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russia's space program is declining thanks in part to sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine. The documents added that Russia's space program has been in decline since at least 2020. While Russia's space program is suffering, China's is booming, the documents said. This would include China using its satellites to jam other communications and intelligence satellites, and to "destroy ballistic missile early warning satellites," the documents said. Both China and Russia have also developed the ability to use missiles to destroy satellites in space, the Post noted.

☆ The Pentagon treats top secret information 'like toilet paper,' says the Vietnam War whistleblower
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

There's no reason to think the Discord leak has damaged US national security, Daniel Ellsberg said. "Top secret is like toilet paper" at the Pentagon, said Ellsberg, who leaked the Pentagon Papers. Ellsberg told The Washington Post that the US government tends to keep a "mystique of secrecy." "At the Pentagon, top secret is like toilet paper, it's nothing," the former military analyst told the outlet. Like Teixeira, Ellsberg was charged by the US government in January 1973 for revealing classified information.

☆ How Russia could spot Ukrainian F-16s before they even got off the ground, according to an air-warfare expert
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Those calls center on the US-made F-16, which proponents say will boost Ukraine's air force. But Russia would notice if Ukraine began modifying its airbases to support F-16s, one expert says. Despite being numerically and technologically outmatched by Russian aircraft and air-to-air missiles, Ukraine's air force has proven remarkably resilient and resourceful. But so far, Russia has chosen to not to use its limited stockpile of long-range missiles against Ukrainian airbases because Ukrainian airpower "doesn't pose a massive threat," Bronk said. US Air National Guard crews replace a part on an F-16 at Ukraine's Mirgorod Air Base in July 2011.

☆ Ukrainian officials planned 'mass strikes' on Moscow and other cities 'with everything' they had, but they stood down after US intervention: report
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The Washington Post reports Ukrainian officials had plans for "mass strikes" on Russian cities on the first anniversary's of the war. Ukraine's military intelligence chief directed an officer to hit "with everything" available, but the plan wasn't carried out. Officials in Kyiv have disputed the Post report based on leaked documents, calling it "strange media" and "sensation." Ukraine is also suspected to be behind a number of explosive sea drone attacks on Russian installations. Smoke rises after explosions were heard from the direction of a Russian military airbase near Novofedorivka, Crimea August 9, 2022.

☆ Leak of Government Secrets Adds Pressure to Overhaul Security Clearances
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Ben Kesling | Dustin Volz | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

How the U.S. government clears personnel to see and share its secrets is coming under new pressure after the alleged leak of classified information by Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira, according to federal reviews of the process and lawmakers. The widespread number of both government and civilian jobs requiring access to classified information make the system that provides security clearances to millions of people hard to run effectively, those who study it say. Additionally, an explosion of the amount of classified material produced by the government—estimated to be in the billions of records annually—has eroded the significance of classification levels and complicated efforts to create walls around what is truly sensitive, say former officials and outside analysts who study the system.

☆ Limit access to most secret US documents, Senate intel panel head says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, April 23 (Reuters) - Too many people have access to the U.S. government's closest secrets and a central entity should oversee the classification process, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said on Sunday, addressing leaks of documents in an online chat group. The United States has numerous intelligence gathering entities and Warner said the situation needed to be dealt with. "We need somebody fully in charge of the whole classification process and I think for those classified documents there ought to be a smaller universe," he said. As an example, Warner said the National Security Agency has suffered leaks in the past and internal controls limit the copying of documents. Warner also said that not everyone handling a document needs to see the whole document and that just seeing the header could be enough.

☆ Accused Pentagon leaker Jack Teixeira posted sensitive US intelligence less than 48 hours after the Ukraine war began, a report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The New York Times found posts sharing secret intelligence less than 48 hours after Russia invaded Ukraine. The New York Times has discovered a Discord user profile matching Jack Teixeira's shared secret intelligence about the war in Ukraine less than 48 hours after Russia began its invasion. The affidavit said he had started posting classified information on social media around December 2022, according to Reuters. The user claimed to be posting information from the NSA, CIA, and other intelligence agencies. On some occasions, the user shared information about the Russian invasion that preempted events on the battlefield.

☆ Pentagon leak spotlights surprising interplay between gaming and military secrets
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Sean Lyngaas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —The recent leak of classified US documents on social media platform Discord seemingly caught many at the Pentagon by surprise. The recent leaks on Discord exposed a shortcoming in how the US government alerts platforms that they are hosting sensitive or classified information, according to Discord’s top lawyer. The episodes point to vexing challenges for social media platforms like Discord – where 21-year Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira allegedly began posting classified information in December – and the US military, which has used Discord for recruiting. The Pentagon is trying to tap into online youth culture without it backfiring spectacularly, as it allegedly did with Teixeira. Classified or sensitive documents are also a unique problem for content moderators on social media sites.

This chat room was publicly listed on a YouTube channel and was easily accessible, the newspaper added. The Pentagon declined to comment on the new information reported by the New York Times. The 21-year-old U.S. Air National Guardsman facing criminal charges for leaking top-secret military intelligence records online was arrested last week. The user claimed to be posting information from the National Security Agency, the Central Intelligence Agency and other intelligence agencies, according to the New York Times. The leaks did not come to light until they were reported by the New York Times in early April even though the documents were posted earlier.

☆ Russia's war on Ukraine latest: Moscow expels German diplomats
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 22 (Reuters) - Russia said it was expelling a number of German diplomats in a tit-for-tat move. Germany did not immediately confirm any expulsions of its own, but said the arrival of a Russian government plane in Berlin was connected to the issue. Russia's RIA Novosti news agency said Germany had decided to expel more than 20 Russians. TANKS, BATTLE* Russia's Defence Ministry said Russian forces had captured three more blocks in the western part of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. * The U.S. said on Friday it would soon start training Ukrainian troops to use its Abrams tanks as Germany announced a deal to establish a hub in Poland to repair German Leopard tanks deployed in Ukraine.

☆ Intelligence Leaks Cast Spotlight on a Recurring Insider Threat: Tech Support
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Dustin Volz | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Photo Illustration: Madeline MarshallWASHINGTON—Jack Teixeira, the 21-year-old Air National Guardsman charged with leaking top-secret U.S. documents, shares at least one thing with leaker Edward Snowden: They both worked in tech support. Massachusetts Airman Teixeira’s alleged disclosures on a social-media platform demonstrate anew how information-technology workers responsible for routine tasks such as network maintenance pose a potential risk to the government’s efforts to control classified information.

☆ Our Jack Teixeira Problem
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Daniel Henninger | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Wonder Land: When we began to devalue conscience, blurring a pragmatic understanding of right from wrong, we unleashed the whirlwind that engulfs us now. Images: Margaret Small/Reuter/Zuma Press Composite: Mark KellyThe revelation that for months the videogamer community was able to see highly classified intelligence documents allegedly pilfered from the U.S. government by a 20-something Air National Guardsman has repeatedly raised the question: How could this happen? Maybe the better question for our times is: How could it not happen?

☆ The Pentagon leaks: What documents leaked in the US military's worst intelligence breach in a decade reveal
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The leaked documents revealed US spying on adversaries and allies alike. The leak also offered compromising details on the extent to which the US has infiltrated Russia's military and intelligence apparatus. Insider obtained and reviewed copies of photographs of dozens of the leaked documents. The documents revealed the US is spying on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and showed that he wanted to launch drone strikes against Russian forces in Russia. The US is keeping a watchful eye on ChinaA number of the leaked documents pertained to China, amid historic tensions between the US and Beijing.

☆ Air Force Inspector General Probe of Airman Jack Teixeira’s Unit Could Lead to More Charges
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Nancy A. Youssef | Gordon Lubold | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Photo Illustration: Madeline MarshallThe intelligence unit of a U.S. Air National Guardsman who allegedly accessed and shared highly classified intelligence documents has come under scrutiny and officials aren’t ruling out punitive action for the unit, defense officials said Wednesday. The Air Force inspector general is investigating the home unit of Airman First Class Jack Teixeira , the Massachusetts Air National Guardsman who has been charged with taking and sharing a trove of government secrets. The inspector general is seeking to determine whether the unit complied with procedures designed to protect against leaks, those officials said.

Photo Illustration: Madeline MarshallThe detention hearing for Airman First Class Jack Teixeira , the Massachusetts Air National Guardsman charged with allegedly taking and sharing highly classified intelligence documents, has been postponed for two weeks. In a court filing Wednesday, the day originally scheduled for the hearing, Airman Teixeira’s lawyers said the government agreed to their request for “more time to address the issues presented by the government’s request for detention.”

Photo illustration: Madeline MarshallFederal prosecutors are expected to outline more of their evidence Wednesday against Airman First Class Jack Teixeira, the Massachusetts Air National Guardsman charged with taking and sharing highly classified intelligence documents that exposed significant vulnerabilities in the way the U.S. protects some of its most closely held secrets. Airman Teixeira, 21 years old, is scheduled to appear in federal court in Boston for a detention hearing, where prosecutors are set to argue that he should remain detained while his criminal case proceeds. The Justice Department charged him Friday with unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information and unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or material, charges that combined carry a potential 15-year prison sentence upon conviction.

WASHINGTON, April 19 (Reuters) - A 21-year-old member of the U.S. Air National Guard who is facing criminal charges for leaking top-secret military intelligence records online will remain in jail for now, according to court filings. It remains to be seen whether Teixeira will opt to challenge the government's detention request or not. Teixeira appeared very briefly in court on Wednesday, wearing an orange jumpsuit, where the judge accepted his request to waive his right to a preliminary hearing. Legal experts expect he will likely face more charges down the road as additional evidence is presented over time to a grand jury. Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; editing by Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Leaked US assessment says China readying supersonic spy drone unit - Washington Post
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Kanishka Singh | Thomson Reuters | Kanishka Singh Is A Breaking News Reporter For Reuters In Washington Dc | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, April 18 (Reuters) - A leaked U.S. military assessment says the Chinese military may soon deploy a high-altitude spy drone that travels at least three times the speed of sound, the Washington Post reported late on Tuesday. The newspaper cited a secret document from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. The Washington Post said it obtained the assessment of the program from a trove of images of classified files posted on the Discord messaging app, allegedly by a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, who was arrested last week. The FBI on Thursday arrested Jack Douglas Teixeira, a 21-year-old member of the U.S. Air National Guard, over the leaks online of classified documents that embarrassed Washington with allies around the world. The leaks first became widely known earlier this month, setting Washington on edge about the damage they may have caused.

CNN —The Air National Guardsman accused of posting a trove of classified documents to social media will be back in court Wednesday for a hearing on whether he will be kept in jail. Prosecutors are expected to argue to a judge that Teixeira should stay behind bars during the course of his legal case. According to charging documents, Teixeira began posting classified information to the Discord chatroom in December 2022, and he began uploading photos of the classified documents in January 2023. The fact that the documents sat online for months before being discovered has revived questions about how classified information is handled across the government. The Pentagon has limited access to classified materials in the wake of the leak, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has directed a 45-day review of classified intelligence handling across the Defense Department.

The court appearance on Wednesday by Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old member of the U.S. Air National Guard accused of posting top secret military intelligence records online, has revived questions about whether leaks damage U.S. security in cases less clear-cut than the Hughes Glomar Explorer. "There is a potential ... for great damage because many of the most valuable intelligence methods are quite fragile," said Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists. FOUR KINDS OF DAMAGEMark Zaid, a Washington-based national security attorney, described four types of potential harm. The release of U.S. diplomatic and military documents on Wikileaks starting in 2010 contributed to two U.S. ambassadors losing their assignments. It is virtually impossible for outsiders to make a complete appraisal of the damage from leaks because internal assessments are themselves classified to avoid further disclosures.

☆ Judge delays hearing for accused US intel leaker Jack Teixeira because his defense says it needs 'more time'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A 21-year-old charged with leaking secret US military documents had his detention hearing delayed. Jack Teixeira, a Massachusetts Air National Guardsman, appeared briefly in federal court Wednesday. A judge had granted a motion to delay the detention hearing because the defense needs more time. But earlier on Wednesday, Hennessy granted a request by attorneys to delay Teixeira's detention hearing by around two weeks. Jack Teixeira, 21, has been charged in connection with the leak of secret Pentagon documents.

☆ What Happens Next in the Leaked Documents Case
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Glenn Thrush | Julian E. Barnes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON — Jack Teixeira, a Massachusetts Air National Guardsman accused of posting classified documents about the war in Ukraine on social media, is expected to appear in a Massachusetts federal court on Thursday, hours after the government said in a memo that he continued to be a national security risk. The hearing for Airman Teixeira, who was arrested April 13 on two separate counts related to the unauthorized handling and publication of classified materials, had been scheduled for federal court in Boston earlier this month. But his lawyer, Brendan Kelley, requested more time to address the government’s arguments, and the magistrate judge, David. Prosecutors often reveal new details of their case at detention hearings, but only enough information to argue that the defendant is a potential flight risk. The information disclosed late Wednesday was an exception — it sought to portray Airman Teixeira as violent and racist as well as an unpredictable threat.

REUTERS/Carlos BarriaWASHINGTON, April 18 (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force's 102nd Intelligence Wing, which the alleged leaker of classified information belonged to, has been ordered to halt its intelligence mission as the service's inspector general carries out an investigation, the Air Force said on Tuesday. The Air Force said all units would also have to carry out a "security-focused standdown" sometime in the next 30 days. "The 102nd Intelligence Wing is not currentlyperforming its assigned intelligence mission," Air Force Spokesperson Ann Stefanek said in statement. The Air Force inspector general would investigate the unit's "compliance with policy, procedures, and standards...related to the release of national security information," Stefanek added. If the accusations against Teixeira are correct, the Air Force will be under pressure to explain how he could have smuggled and disseminated highly classified intelligence for months without being noticed.

☆ Lindsay Graham rips Marjorie Taylor Greene's defense of the accused Pentagon leaker, calling it 'one of the most irresponsible statements she can make'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Natalie Musumeci | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Sen. Lindsey Graham criticized Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's defense of the accused Pentagon leaker. Graham called Greene's stance "irresponsible" and one that puts America "in serious danger." Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) April 13, 2023"Jake Teixeira is white, male, christian, and antiwar. Hours after Graham's criticism of Greene, Greene posted a doctored image of him on Twitter holding a Bud Light can that featured a photo of trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) April 16, 2023Conservatives have blasted Bud Light's recent partnership with Mulvaney and have called for a boycott of the brew.

☆ Pentagon, Intelligence Agencies Face Calls for Details on Leak Probe
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Ian Talley | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A review has been ordered of intelligence access, accountability and control procedures within the Pentagon to help prevent future leaks. WASHINGTON—U.S. Defense Department and intelligence agencies face growing calls from lawmakers for details about how a 21-year-old Air National Guardsman was allegedly able to access and post online classified information. Senior lawmakers with oversight of intelligence and defense on Sunday said they don’t yet understand how a low-level information technician was allowed access to the classified documents and allegedly to sneak state secrets out of secured facilities. Some lawmakers also called for officials to be held accountable for the breach.

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