A young man in the Massachusetts Air National Guard was behind classified document leaks on the Russia-Ukraine war and will be arrested Thursday, according to multiple reports.
Jack Teixeira, 21, was first publicly identified as the leaker in a New York Times investigation.
Teixeira will be arrested Thursday in Massachusetts, a source told Reuters.
The Department of Justice launched an investigation into the leaks last week, after several classified documents about the war in Ukraine appeared on social media. The documents were largely routine updates distributed daily by U.S. military leaders. More than 100 files were leaked.
President Biden, when asked about the leaks while visiting Ireland, said authorities were “getting close” to finding the source. Though the documents online were dated between Feb. 23 and March 1, Biden said there was nothing of “great consequence” in them.
Military officials suggested that Russia would already know almost all the information that appeared online.
The documents first appeared in a chatroom called Thug Shaker Central that was run by Teixeira, according to the Times investigation.
Members of the chat told the Times they were just talking about the documents for fun and informational purposes. Things only spiraled out of control when a teenage member — not Teixeira — posted the documents in a public forum.
Armed federal agents surrounded Teixiera’s Massachusetts home on Thursday afternoon, the Times reported.
“He needs to get an attorney if things are flowing the way they are going right now,” a man standing outside the home told the Times. “The feds will be around soon, I’m sure.”