U.S. identifies man who allegedly leaked secret Pentagon documents as Jack Teixeira

Washington — Federal law enforcement officials have identified the person suspected of leaking secret defense and intelligence documents that have circulated online, three U.S. officials tell CBS News.

The officials confirmed the suspect is a man named Jack Teixeira. The New York Times, which first revealed his name Thursday, reported that he is a 21-year-old member of the intelligence wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard.

The report in The New York Times came hours after a story in The Washington Post detailed a small online community on the platform Discord where the documents appeared to have first been shared by the group’s leader. Earlier reporting by Bellingcat traced the documents’ path from that server, known as Thug Shakers Central, to a larger Discord community. From there, they spread to Russian Telegram channels and Twitter accounts, where they first came to the attention of U.S. officials last week.

President Biden said during his visit to Dublin on Thursday that investigators were close to identifying a suspect. 

“There’s a full-blown investigation going on as you know, with the Intelligence Committee and the Justice Department, and they’re getting close,” Mr. Biden told reporters. 

The documents reviewed by CBS News contained details about the war in Ukraine, including an analysis of Ukraine’s air defenses, as well as information about South Korea. Officials said some of the documents appeared to be doctored, but acknowledged some of the slides appeared to contain secret information. 

“Photos appear to show documents similar in format to those used to provide daily updates to our senior leaders on Ukraine and Russia related operations, as well as other intelligence updates,” Chris Meagher, assistant to the defense secretary for public affairs, told reporters Monday. 

Asked Monday if the threat to national security has been contained, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said, “We don’t know. We truly don’t know.”