Air Force watchdog finds alleged Pentagon leaker Jack Teixeira's unit "failed" to take action after witnessing questionable activity

The Air Force inspector general found that individuals in alleged Pentagon leaker Jack Teixeira's unit failed to take proper action after at least four separate security incidents. The investigation report released Monday concludes Teixeira alone was responsible, but members of his unit "enabled" the leaks by not properly supervising his access to classified information. 

The Air National Guard has taken action against 15 individuals for "dereliction in the performance of duties" as a result of the report's findings, according to an Air Force statement. 

The investigation says Teixeira's supervisors were not aware he was posting classified information online. They did, however, witness questionable acts by Teixeira and failed to report them to security officials.

At least three of Teixeira's supervisors had information about as many as four separate instances between July 2022 and January 2023 of security incidents and potential insider threat indicators they were required to report and didn't fully do so, the investigation found, and several members of Teixeira's unit had a more complete picture of Teixeira's activities but didn't report them because they feared security officials might "overreact."

"Had any of these members come forward, security officials would likely have facilitated restricting systems/facility access and alerted the appropriate authorities, reducing the length and depth of the unauthorized and unlawful disclosures by several months," the report said. 

Among those 15 individuals is Col. Sean Riley, the ex-commander of the 102nd Intelligence Wing, who was relieved of his command for cause. 

Teixeira's unit, the 102nd Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group, was paused earlier this year and the group's mission remains reassigned to other units within the Air Force. Previously suspended individuals from Texeira's squadron have been permanently removed. 

Teixeira was "cyber defense operations journeyman," according to his service record, which in effect means he laid fiber optic cables and helped the unit with its tech needs. As a part of that job, he had a top secret security clearance. 

One of the conclusions of the investigation is that the unit lacked adequate supervision of night shift operations. Teixeira was a members of a three-person crew that worked nights,, and these crew members were the only people in a top-secret facility. "Their primary role was to ensure the Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system was operating properly and answer the phones," the investigation said. But during that time, there were no rules on printing documents. 

Teixeira was indicted on six charges of unauthorized disclosure after dozens of printed classified documents appeared online. 

According to the Air Force investigation, Teixeira started posting the text of classified documents as early as February 2022 into a channel on Discord but wasn't identified as the source of the leaks until April 2023, when scores of the classified documents were brought to the public's attention. 

The classified documents covered a number of subjects but some of the most revelatory were the documents about Russia and Ukraine that disclosed troop movements, as well as the timeline for western deliveries of weapons to Ukraine. 

Teixeira pleaded not guilty to the government's charges. 

In:
• Pentagon
• Jack Teixeira

Eleanor Watson

CBS News reporter covering the Pentagon.

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