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Leader of Online Group Where Secret Documents Leaked Is Air National Guardsman

nytimes.com

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Re: Leader of Online Group Where Secret Documents Leaked Is Air National Guardsman

#21

Post by ifyoubuildit »

ChumpGPT wrote: post #11

Would a guy in his position even have access to these documents? I'm thinking that there has to be someone who shared them or at least shared a way to gain access to them. I'm sure the FBI will be following the trail of bread crumbs to the original source. Now if it turns out he is the original source, we're in huge trouble. Because a 21 year old kid working night shift in some remote Cape Cod office for the Massachu…

It's not clear to me that he is confirmed to be the actual leaker and not just the owner of the group where the files were leaked.

Re: Leader of Online Group Where Secret Documents Leaked Is Air National Guardsman

#22

Post by pocketsand »

ChumpGPT wrote: post #11

Would a guy in his position even have access to these documents? I'm thinking that there has to be someone who shared them or at least shared a way to gain access to them. I'm sure the FBI will be following the trail of bread crumbs to the original source. Now if it turns out he is the original source, we're in huge trouble. Because a 21 year old kid working night shift in some remote Cape Cod office for the Massachu…

The dirty not-so-secret about national defense apparatus in this country is that there are thousands of people in these various sub-sub-wings of our military along side mediocre contractors cashing in on defense contracts who go through rudimentary security clearance checks and have access to all this information.

I grew up outside DC and every so often you hear of the security clearance spooks interviewing you or someone you know about some jamoke you went to high school with to determine if they're a security risk. They also ask those people really difficult questions, like, "Would you use drugs at work?" "If you did, would you download illegal documents?" "If you did get high at work and download illegal documents, would you post them on Myspace?" About half of the people actually fail to answer those questions in the expected way. The other half make 200,000 dollars a year from a subcontractor of a subcontractor of Northrop Grumman pushing paper at a desk all year.

It's a national disgrace.

Re: Leader of Online Group Where Secret Documents Leaked Is Air National Guardsman

#23

Post by dogma1138 »

2022-11-07 wrote: post #14

This story just doesn't compute with me. A young guy (21) seemingly had access to all this information, and shared it despite being Portuguese (based on his last name) so seemingly not ethnically tied to Russia, shared it openly on Discord with his gaming club, a full document dump literally hundreds of pages not just screenshots or summaries, but not before faking some of the information, coordinated by a group that…

This makes more sense than some Cold War spy thriller story.

The amount of times people leaked classified information to win an argument on the Warthunder forums and discord alone proves that intelligence agencies have nothing on borderline teens that want to score points on the internet.

Re: Leader of Online Group Where Secret Documents Leaked Is Air National Guardsman

#24

Post by openasocket »

ChumpGPT wrote: post #11

Would a guy in his position even have access to these documents? I'm thinking that there has to be someone who shared them or at least shared a way to gain access to them. I'm sure the FBI will be following the trail of bread crumbs to the original source. Now if it turns out he is the original source, we're in huge trouble. Because a 21 year old kid working night shift in some remote Cape Cod office for the Massachu…

I was wondering the same thing. These leaks were briefings for the Joint Chiefs, right? He worked in intelligence, I could see him having some level of access, but I can't imagine him being read in on daily executive briefings

Re: Leader of Online Group Where Secret Documents Leaked Is Air National Guardsman

#25

Post by rebuilder »

pocketsand wrote: post #22
ChumpGPT wrote: post #11

Would a guy in his position even have access to these documents? I'm thinking that there has to be someone who shared them or at least shared a way to gain access to them. I'm sure the FBI will be following the trail of bread crumbs to the original source. Now if it turns out he is the original source, we're in huge trouble. Because a 21 year old kid working night shift in some remote Cape Cod office for the Massachu…

The dirty not-so-secret about national defense apparatus in this country is that there are thousands of people in these various sub-sub-wings of our military along side mediocre contractors cashing in on defense contracts who go through rudimentary security clearance checks and have access to all this information. I grew up outside DC and every so often you hear of the security clearance spooks interviewing you or so…

It was reported in the news today that the USA is looking to tighten access to classified material as, currently, about one million US citizens have a top secret clearance.

Re: Leader of Online Group Where Secret Documents Leaked Is Air National Guardsman

#26

Post by joezydeco »

r721 wrote: post #16
ChumpGPT wrote: post #11

Would a guy in his position even have access to these documents? I'm thinking that there has to be someone who shared them or at least shared a way to gain access to them. I'm sure the FBI will be following the trail of bread crumbs to the original source. Now if it turns out he is the original source, we're in huge trouble. Because a 21 year old kid working night shift in some remote Cape Cod office for the Massachu…

According to new WaPo article, "he was a junior member of the military, but had access to highly sensitive information through his role as an IT tech within the military organization." https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/04/13/... UPD They changed the wording, the current version: >Teixeira told members of the online group Thug Shaker Central that he worked as an technology support staffer for the M…

That's incredible. It's been a decade since Edward Snowden.

Re: Leader of Online Group Where Secret Documents Leaked Is Air National Guardsman

#27

Post by 2022-11-07 »

dogma1138 wrote: post #23
2022-11-07 wrote: post #14

This story just doesn't compute with me. A young guy (21) seemingly had access to all this information, and shared it despite being Portuguese (based on his last name) so seemingly not ethnically tied to Russia, shared it openly on Discord with his gaming club, a full document dump literally hundreds of pages not just screenshots or summaries, but not before faking some of the information, coordinated by a group that…

This makes more sense than some Cold War spy thriller story. The amount of times people leaked classified information to win an argument on the Warthunder forums and discord alone proves that intelligence agencies have nothing on borderline teens that want to score points on the internet.

Name the most nonsensical camp b-rated Bollywood spy thriller you've ever seen, one where actors land on their feet after getting blown 50 feet into the air. It still makes more sense than this.

Re: Leader of Online Group Where Secret Documents Leaked Is Air National Guardsman

#28

Post by AnimalMuppet »

BryantD wrote: post #9
KarlKemp wrote: post #2

The New York Times figuring this out faster than the FBI is quite impressive.

Not proven by facts in evidence! The FBI prioritizes (in theory) successful prosecution. It’s entirely possible that there are agents watching the guy while a judge processes a warrant.

In a case like this, wouldn't the FBI prioritize stopping further leaking?

Re: Leader of Online Group Where Secret Documents Leaked Is Air National Guardsman

#29

Post by pfisherman »

2022-11-07 wrote: post #14

This story just doesn't compute with me. A young guy (21) seemingly had access to all this information, and shared it despite being Portuguese (based on his last name) so seemingly not ethnically tied to Russia, shared it openly on Discord with his gaming club, a full document dump literally hundreds of pages not just screenshots or summaries, but not before faking some of the information, coordinated by a group that…

The whole thing is cockamamie and muddled by design. Is this a real leak that someone wants people to think is phony? Is this a phony leak that someone wants people to think is real? It is both?

We are not supposed to know, and that is the point.

Re: Leader of Online Group Where Secret Documents Leaked Is Air National Guardsman

#30

Post by nobody9999 »

2022-11-07 wrote: post #14

This story just doesn't compute with me. A young guy (21) seemingly had access to all this information, and shared it despite being Portuguese (based on his last name) so seemingly not ethnically tied to Russia, shared it openly on Discord with his gaming club, a full document dump literally hundreds of pages not just screenshots or summaries, but not before faking some of the information, coordinated by a group that…

Why does it have to make sense? kids (and a 21 year-old is certainly not a full-grown adult) do stupid things all the time.

For example, as James Zhong claimed[0]:

>He recalled converting some of his Bitcoin into $700,000 in cash. He stated he did this so that he would have a “case full of money like in the movies.” He hoped the visual appeal of the cash would impress a female into having sexual relations with him. He stated his plan did not work.

Maybe this kid did it to impress his Discord buddies? Maybe he did it for shits & giggles. Presumably, we'll find out more as time goes by.

>despite being Portuguese (based on his last name)

My last name is English, but I'm not from England. I was born in the US, the child of an American citizen too. How could that possibly happen?

I've met at least half a dozen native-born Americans with the name 'Teixeira'. Why do you assume he's a foreign national? By that logic, this guy[1] must be a "furriner" too, eh?

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35549013

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Teixeira

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