The US Air Force has disciplined 15 people connected to the intelligence leaks from Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira, the service said Monday, after an investigation found that individuals “intentionally failed” to report documented concerns about Teixeira’s behavior preceding the leaks.
According to an Air Force release on Monday, 15 individuals from the ranks of staff sergeant to colonel received punishments ranging from being relieved from their positions to non-judicial punishment under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
The commander of Teixeira’s unit, Col. Sean Riley of the the 102nd Intelligence Wing, was relieved of command, the Air Force said. Commanders of the 102nd Intelligence Support Squadron who had been suspended were “permanently removed.”
While the investigation did not find that supervisory members were aware of Teixeira leaking the information on the popular social media platform Discord, the Air Force said individuals in his unit “failed to take proper action after becoming aware of his intelligence-seeking activities.”
Teixeira, who served as a cyber systems journeyman with the Massachusetts Air National Guard’s 102nd Intelligence Wing, has been indicted on six counts of willful retention and transmission of classified information related to national defense. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Teixiera’s lawyer, Michael Bachrach, told CNN he was reviewing the IG report released on Monday but declined to comment beyond that.
The Air Force’s investigation found that commanders failed to adequately inspect areas under their command, had “inconsistent guidance for reporting security incidents” and “inconsistent definitions of the ‘Need to Know’ concept,” a lack of supervision of night shift operations, an “inefficient and ineffective” process for carrying out disciplinary…
Read the full article here