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Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira, right, appears in U.S. District Court in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., April 14, 2023. /CFP
The U.S. Air National Guardsman accused of leaking classified documents to a small group of gamers had been posting sensitive information months earlier than previously known and to a much larger chat group, the New York Times (NYT) reported on Friday.
In February 2022, soon after the Russia-Ukraine conflict began, a user profile matching that of Jack Teixeira began posting secret intelligence on the conflict on a previously undisclosed chat group on social platform Discord, NYT reported, adding the group had about 600 members.
This chat room was publicly listed on a YouTube channel and was easily accessible, NYT added.
The Pentagon declined to comment on the new information. The 21-year-old U.S. Air National Guardsman facing criminal charges for leaking top-secret military intelligence records online was arrested last week.
The case is believed to be the most serious U.S. security breach since more than 700,000 documents, videos and diplomatic cables appeared on the WikiLeaks website in 2010. The Pentagon has called the leak a "deliberate, criminal act."
The leaks did not come to light until they were reported by the New York Times in early April even though the documents were posted earlier.
Teixeira was charged with one count of violating the Espionage Act related to the unlawful copying and transmitting of sensitive defense material, and a second charge related to unlawful removal of defense material to an unauthorized location. He will likely face more charges, legal experts have said.
(With input from Reuters)
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Copyright © 2023 CGTN. 京ICP备16065310号
Disinformation report hotline: 010-85061466