Pentagon launches post-leaks review, but experts warn more change is needed

WASHINGTON – Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered a 45-day review of Pentagon document security practices Tuesday after a rogue Massachusetts Air National Guardsman allegedly leaked dozens of sensitive US intelligence papers online — but experts say both the military and federal government must change their culture, not just their policies, to prevent such a breach happening again.

Airman 1st Class Jack Teixeira, 21, was arrested on April 13 at his mother’s Massachusetts home and stands accused of publishing troves of secret and top-secret military documents – including Ukrainian war plans – to Discord, an online messaging platform popular with video gamers and gun enthusiasts.

Though Teixeira had been in the military for fewer than four years, his job as a cyber transport systems journeyman working on and protecting the infrastructure behind sensitive communication channels required him to have the highest level of security clearance.

The reviewers will propose policy changes to Austin, which could include cutting back access to ensure only those with the proper “need-to-know” clearances can view relevant, sensitive intelligence.

But security specialists say attitudes are what really needs changing.

“Government officials are not emphasizing enough the need to uphold the laws and that if you violate the laws there will be consequences,” George Mason University forensic science professor and former FBI agent Steven Burmeister told The Post. “This attitude is truly becoming a cultural one, so much so that society and young people are callous to crime and have this expectation that they are immune from punishment if they violate the law.”

Pentagon spokesman Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder emphasized the criminal nature of the leak Thursday after Teixeira’s arrest, noting that the military is confident in its current security clearance system but casting the Pentagon as the victim.

“It is important to understand that we do have stringent guidelines in place for safeguarding classified and sensitive information,” said Ryder. “This was a deliberate criminal act, a violation of those guidelines.”

Still, the rep did say the Pentagon was open to making a number of changes, such as “examining and updating distribution lists assessing how and where intelligence products are shared.”

But Burmeister said DC as a whole needs to improve how seriously it takes security clearances and document secrecy.

For example, when President Biden commented last week that he was “not concerned” about the leak’s contents, Burmeister said it “sends the wrong signal to those in the government and to our adversaries by implying it’s OK to do this.”

“Simply put, all government officials should be concerned with the release of classified information. Arguing that it may be over-classified or not damaging is not an excuse, it is still a violation of the law and must be investigated,” Burmeister said. “Saying, ‘I’m not concerned’ … is back to setting a cultural tone that seems to be prevalent in our society today: [that] there are no great consequences to committing a crime.”

That attitude appears to have been further reinforced after top politicians in recent months were caught mishandling classified documents. After the FBI in August confiscated more than 150 improperly stored classified documents at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, news broke in January that dozens more were found in Biden’s former Washington, DC office and Wilmington, Del. home.

“When our elected officials look the other way or seem to downplay or make excuses they only signal to future offenders that there are no consequences to their actions,” Burmeister said. “Either way, there seems to be a lackadaisical attitude across the government when it comes to handling classified information and only when the dust is kicked up do people show signs of outrage and suggest that it’s bad.”

“During World War II, this country adopted a well-know phrase at the time, ‘Loose Lips Sink Ships.’ People got the message that bad things will happen if you mishandle information,” he added. “It became a mantra that people took seriously, and no matter where you worked or status in society this may save lives. It was a national spirit.

“Unfortunately, within the last decade or more from my vantage point, I am seeing a fading of that national spirit.”

Austin in his Tuesday memo also directed all Pentagon services to invite counterintelligence and security professionals to provide “refresher training” on how to properly handle secret information.

“This training should address the risks and consequences of unauthorized disclosures, which may include, administrative penalties, such as termination of employment, or criminal prosecution, as appropriate,” Austin said.

He also reminded military leaders to “reinforce their expectation that their workforce will immediately report all security incidents to the chain of command and their security manager or the office of their inspector general, and must ensure individuals in their workforce are empowered to make these reports.”