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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

#91
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not really so much about the clearance as it is about network access. A tremendous amount of classified information is essentially public on the high side networks. So, if your job entails access to a classified network (particularly an IC one), you have a lot of reading you can do. This situation is sort of intentional: one of the big findings of the 9/11 commission is that intelligence information was too silo…

So a sibling comment in this tree says there are "about one million US citizens have a top secret clearance" ... is it known roughly how many would have access to those IC networks? I'm realizing my initial impression of the landscape here is also skewed by some peripheral awareness of how government contractors may have narrow access to specific material for their work. I understand why intentionally, some actual go…

When it comes to classified networks, "SCIF" usually implies "JWICS." A quote from the DISA CIO [1] puts the JWICS user count at "hundreds of thousands."

Even better, a 2016 article about TS Intellipedia [2], the MediaWiki install on JWICS, says it has "255,402 registered users." That's probably pretty similar to the JWICS user count at the time.

[1] https://fedscoop.com/jwics-modernization-dia-douglas-cossa/

[2] https://www.businessinsider.com/nsa-version-wikipedia-called...

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

#92
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 ?

So once the suspect is identified, do you:

1. Swoop in and arrest them immediately

Or 2. Do comprehensive physical and electronic surveillance for say 24-72 hours to see if they try to get in contact with foreign nationals, and investigate whether they have a "dead man's switch" to release more documents?

Option 2 makes more sense to me. When cleaning this situation up it will be essential to know what he leaked and who he leaked it to. Unfortunately the NYT and Bellingcat may have forced law enforcement to move prematurely. That or friendly media got a tipoff to establish the desired narrative while the government does the "no comment during an active investigation" line.

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

#94
post #9
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.

Follow up for posterity: the arrest affidavit is public. The FBI had the guy’s name and location on the 12th, one day before The NY Times article.

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.255...

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

#95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"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" Based on the above, maybe one of them was an alt-right type? A lot of the right wing in this country supports Russia.

I think you're overcomplicating it, from the accounts given of his behavior in other articles it seems like it was just a massive egotrip for him. He enjoyed the attention and clout he got from seemingly 'predicting' what was going to happen.

Is it not two different people? The dumbshit who shared the info with his friends, and then someone else in the group leaked it to the public. At least that's the impression I got so far.

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

#96

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…

[deleted]

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

#97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"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" Based on the above, maybe one of them was an alt-right type? A lot of the right wing in this country supports Russia.

I think you're overcomplicating it, from the accounts given of his behavior in other articles it seems like it was just a massive egotrip for him. He enjoyed the attention and clout he got from seemingly 'predicting' what was going to happen.

“A social-media account overseen by a former U.S. Navy noncommissioned officer—a prominent online voice supporting Russia’s war on Ukraine—played a key role in the spread of intelligence documents allegedly leaked by Airman First Class Jack Teixeira, reposting files from obscure online chat rooms,”

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

#98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. He claimed to have been working inside a SCIF on a regular basis. I'm sure the National Guard would have or have access to such a facility, and have the necessary clearances. But I don't see how an inactive or active-for-training guardsman could have a need to access that much information.

There are 19 year olds with TS clearances. Some jobs just require it. It can be written into an enlistment contract. National guard and reserve units of different kinds are also kind of known for having serious racism problems. Racists use it to network and meet other racists, get the training and some credibility without actually committing to active duty. That shit in active duty is not tolerated, usually cause it'…

Yeah, my question was not that he got the clearance (presumably his MOS required it, whether full-time active or not), but why he was going into a facility and getting these documents when his unit was not called into active federal duty. There wouldn't have been any need to know so he shouldn't have had access since you need both a clearance and need to know.

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

#99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're overcomplicating it, from the accounts given of his behavior in other articles it seems like it was just a massive egotrip for him. He enjoyed the attention and clout he got from seemingly 'predicting' what was going to happen.

“A social-media account overseen by a former U.S. Navy noncommissioned officer—a prominent online voice supporting Russia’s war on Ukraine—played a key role in the spread of intelligence documents allegedly leaked by Airman First Class Jack Teixeira, reposting files from obscure online chat rooms,”

I'm not sure what point you're trying to make
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