The US Defense Department said Monday it will have results within 45 days on the recent leak of classified documents, as it works quickly to assess how the leak occurred.
“We are here to find out the facts and that is what this review will do,” Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters.
He added that the department “continues to work around the clock to better understand the scope and scale of the leaks.”
When asked if there could be even more documents circulating online, he replied that “it could be” and that this was being investigated.
He also said that the Department of Defense has already taken steps to limit the number of employees with access to classified information.
“We are cleaning up some of our mailing lists and who has access to certain information. I can’t give you exact numbers,” he explained.
Authorities last week charged Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira, 21, with leaking classified documents online.
The documents, which had been circulating on various social networking sites for several weeks, included sensitive information about Russia’s war in Ukraine and about US allies such as Israel, Turkey and South Korea.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters at the White House on Monday that the United States has not detected a breach of trust between Washington and its allies as a result of the information released in the leaks.
Teixeira held a security clearance for his job as a cyber specialist with the Massachusetts Air National Guard, according to a court affidavit unsealed last week.
His unit, the 102nd Intelligence Wing of the Massachusetts National Guard, is responsible for providing intelligence support to many units of the armed forces.
US news outlets reported that Teixeira allegedly shared classified documents with a group of young people who regularly chatted on Discord, a social media platform popular with video gamers.
According to The Washington Post, Teixeira first wrote the classified information in the group’s chat, but when some of the members did not take the documents seriously, he began taking photos of the materials and sharing them.
Teixeira faces two criminal charges: unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information, and unauthorized appropriation and retention of classified documents.
The first charge falls under the Espionage Act, a Justice Department statute that has been used to prosecute leaks of classified information.
If convicted as charged, Teixeira faces up to 15 years in prison.
[Jeff Seldin contribuyó en este reporte. Con información de Reuters]
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