Given Top Secret military clearance at age 21, Pentagon leaker private first class Jack Teixeira caused a tsunami in the Pentagon, scrambling to find out the source of Top Security Leaks related to the Ukraine War, Israel, Egypt, South Korea, China and North Korea, all exposing Pentagon secrets. Charged in Boston’s federal court with unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information and unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or material, no mention was made of the Espionage Act. Former President Donald Trump, 76, is currently under investigation by Special Counsel Jack Smith for essentially the same thing as Teixeira for retaining classified files in the basement of his Palm Beach Mar-a-Lago resort. When it comes to mishandling classified government files, apparently the government makes no distinction between a president and private first class.
Whatever Teixeira’s motives, the Department of Justice threw the book at the 21-year-old given Top Security clearance working at Otis Air National Guard Base near Cape Cod. How odd that a twenty-something private was give the same security clearance as the former President of the United Sates. What’s more odd is that Trump is is treated no differently than a boastful punk using government secrets to shows his machismo in an Internet chat room called “Discord.” Whether Teixeira talked about the Ukraine War of any other topic, how could the Pentagon make the mistake of giving him Top Security clearance? Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, 69, and 64-year-old Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Miley must take a hard look of what’s the Pentagon policy with its security clearances. If Teixeira had Top Security clearance, so do many other post-teenagers.
Surrounded April 14 by heavily-armed FBI agents at his North Dighton home, some 46 miles south of Boston, the 21-year-old was taken into custody without incident in shorts and tee shirt. Giving 20-somethings Top Security clearance exposed for all to see the reckless way in which the Pentagon extends clearances. Whether young soldiers lead troops into battle or not, doesn’t mean you can trust their judgment with Top Secret clearance. Austin needs a top-down review of Pentagon Top Secret clearance requirements. If a car rental company won’t rent a car to someone under 25, how can the Pentagon give Top Security clearance to a teenager? Neuroscientists have known that the pre-frontal cortex isn’t mature until age 25. What’s the Pentagon doing handing out Top Security clearances to post-teenagers? Teixeira’s motives haven’t been established for revealing the government’s secrets.
When Booz Hamilton whistleblower Edward Snowden leaked National Security documents to Wikileaks in 2013 before fleeing to Hong Kong, then Moscow, he thought he was doing his civic duty exposing the government for spying on its citizens. Snowden found out the hard way that the government doesn’t like to be embarrassed. Now granted Russian citizenship, Snowden has no plans to return to the U.S. to face espionage charges. When it comes to Teixeira, DOJ prosecutors insist that the 21-year-old gamer only expressed his machismo with his fellow gamers in the chat room. Facing a possible 10-year sentence, Teixeira can plead developmental immaturity, paying a psychologist to attest to his incomplete neurological development. Whatever happens, the Pentagon has been exposed in many areas, certainly about granting Top Security clearances to post-teenagers. When it comes to actual Pentagon leaks, U.S. allies must be scratching their heads about real problems with the Ukraine War.
Defense Secretary Austin has a lot of explaining to do about how he presents an overly rosy picture on battlefield successes in Ukraine, when Zelensky has lost some 25% of Ukraine’s sovereign territory battling the Kremlin. Especially noteworthy are Miley’s fake numbers about Russian casualties he estimated at over 100,000. Internal Pentagon reports show that figure at around 17,000, another example of White House and Pentagon hyperbole. When it comes to military hardware, the Pentagon expressed concern over Zelensky’s battle plans and alarming rate at which he burns munitions. In the DOJ’s court filing, the government contends Teixeira started leaking Top Secret files back in January 2023 on the chat site “Discord.” “Certain of the images appear to depict Government information that was used to inform senior military and civilian government officials during briefings at the Pentagon.”
Teixeira enlisted at Otis Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts in 2019 at the age of 18. Pentagon officials haven’t said when Teixeira received his Top Security clearance, most likely when he was still a teenager. Austin and Miley have a lot to think about the current system for granting security clearance regardless of age. Uploading slides of Top Secret Pentagon documents for the last four months, the Pentagon shows that is doesn’t have safeguards in place. DOJ’s case against Teixeira warrants more than civilian criminal charges, requiring the Pentagon to invoke its internal Courts Martial process to evict the 21-year-old from the military. Whatever happens it trial, it’s clear that the young man has some serious mental problems eclipsing his judgment or, at the very least, explaining his motives for divulging Top Secret Pentagon files. Pentagon officials need to take hard look at current policy.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
