The biggest intelligence leaks in US history (2024)

The biggest intelligence leaks in US history (1)The biggest intelligence leaks in US history (2)Reuters

The latest leak rocking the US intelligence world is not the first time classified documents have made their way into the public eye.

On Friday, the US government charged Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old employee with the Massachusetts Air National Guard's intelligence wing, for allegedly leaking highly sensitive documents on to the internet.

Major news organisations Bellingcat, the New York Times and the Washington Post have reported Mr Teixeira posted the highly sensitive documents to a private group on the social media platform Discord. The documents eventually leaked on to the wider internet.

They provide details into recent conditions in Ukraine, as well as intelligence on US allies like South Korea and Israel. The leaks come at a sensitive moment in Ukraine's war against Russia, as the conflict enters its second year.

This leak is the latest in a long line of unexpected disclosures of classified US documents. Some of them changed the course of US history and were hailed as heroic - while others landed their leakers in prison for years.

The Pentagon Papers

The biggest intelligence leaks in US history (3)The biggest intelligence leaks in US history (4)Getty Images

The release of the Pentagon Papers is perhaps the most famous and impactful leak of classified documents in US history.

In 1971, Daniel Ellsberg, an analyst at the RAND Corporation, leaked a report commissioned by the US military about the Vietnam War. The conflict was widely criticised at home and abroad, and the report revealed the extent to which the US government had kept details from the public.

The New York Times used the documents to publish a blockbuster expose on the scope of America's actions in Vietnam.

Mr Ellsberg was initially charged with espionage, but a judge dismissed the charges 1973. Now 92, he is now considered one of the most important government whistleblowers in US history, and a well-known advocate for government transparency.

The NSA leaks

The biggest intelligence leaks in US history (5)The biggest intelligence leaks in US history (6)Rosdiana Ciaravolo/Getty Images

In 2013, Edward Snowden leaked a tranche of intelligence documents to the Guardian and the Washington Post, showing that the US government was illegally collecting citizens' phone data.

The documents revealed the inner workings of the secretive National Security Agency, one of the primary US intelligence agencies. They also shed significant light on the secretive data collection actions taken by governments around the world, including US allies like the UK, Australia and New Zealand.

The trove of documents provided to the newspapers are some of the largest leaks in US history. The US government charged Mr Snowden with espionage and theft of government property, and Mr Snowden eventually gained asylum in Russia, where he now lives in exile.

He has become an advocate for protecting journalists against surveillance.

Chelsea Manning and Wikileaks

The biggest intelligence leaks in US history (7)The biggest intelligence leaks in US history (8)Rosdiana Ciaravolo/Getty Images

In 2010, Chelsea Manning, then a soldier and analyst in the US Army, began sharing thousands of classified documents with Wikileaks. The organisation, then led by Julian Assange, was dedicated to publishing secret documents provided to the media.

The trove of documents provided by Manning contained details about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as a tranche of diplomatic cables. Wikileaks then made many of them public and the documents were covered by major media organisations.

One of the most notable disclosures was a graphic video of a US Apache helicopter killing 12 civilians, including two Reuters journalists, in Baghdad in 2007.

Manning was ultimately sentenced to 35 years in prison. Her sentence was commuted by President Barack Obama 2017, after she had served for seven years.

Manning unsuccessfully ran for the US Senate in 2018.

The Reality Winner case

The biggest intelligence leaks in US history (9)The biggest intelligence leaks in US history (10)Bruce Glikas/WireImage

In 2017, a former Air Force member and NSA translator, Reality Winner, was arrested and charged for providing a classified report to news website The Intercept.

The document detailed one of Russia's efforts to interfere in the 2016 US presidential election by employing a phishing scheme against local election officials.

Winner posted the document anonymously, but federal investigators were able to deduce its origins when The Intercept provided it to the NSA for verification.

After her arrest, Winner told the US television programme 60 minutes that she felt compelled to tell Americans the truth about Russia's attempts to meddle in the 2016 election, given then-President Donald Trump's repeated denials.

She had believed that "somebody needs to step forward and put this right," she told 60 Minutes.

Winner was found guilty of leaking the documents to a media organisation. She spent four years in prison and was released on probation in 2021.

Jack Teixeira's charges in full and what they tell us
Jack Teixeira charged over Pentagon leaks

US national security

Jack Teixeira

United States

The biggest intelligence leaks in US history (2024)

FAQs

Who was the source of the biggest intelligence leak in history? ›

Edward Joseph Snowden (Russian: Эдвард Джозеф Сноуден, born June 21, 1983) is a former American NSA intelligence contractor and a whistleblower who leaked classified documents revealing the existence of global surveillance programs. He became a naturalized Russian citizen in 2022.

Where can I find leaked government documents? ›

Free Resources for Finding Declassified Documents
  • CIA: Freedom of Information Act Electronic Reading Room. ...
  • Department of State: Freedom of Information Act. ...
  • FBI Records: The Vault - FOIA Library. ...
  • Federation of American Scientists: Project on Government Secrecy.
Jul 19, 2023

Who leaked US intelligence? ›

Jack Teixeira, an airman first class of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, had allegedly photographed printouts of the documents at his parents' home in Dighton, Massachusetts, and posted them to the instant messaging platform Discord on a server named "Thug Shaker Central".

Who funds WikiLeaks? ›

It is funded by donations and media partnerships. It has published classified documents and other media provided by anonymous sources. It was founded in 2006 by Julian Assange, an Australian editor, publisher, and activist.

Who gave the CIA power? ›

The agency's founding followed the dissolution of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) at the end of World War II by President Harry S. Truman, who created the Central Intelligence Group under the direction of a director of central intelligence by presidential directive on January 22, 1946.

How do I find CIA declassified documents? ›

The documents will be available on CIA.gov and in the CIA Records Search Tool (CREST) at the National Archives in College Park, Maryland. CREST currently houses over 10 million pages of declassified Agency documents.

What are secret government documents called? ›

Classified information can be designated Top Secret, Secret or Confidential. These classifications are only used on matters of national interest. Top Secret: applies when compromise might reasonably cause exceptionally grave injury to the national interest.

What happens if you leak government documents? ›

Yet, unauthorized disclosure of classified information in the United States is a crime under the Espionage Act and several other federal statutes. Those who violate such crimes against the government face severe criminal sanctions.

What is the secret intelligence agency in USA called? ›

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is responsible for providing national security intelligence to senior U.S. policymakers. The CIA director is nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate.

Which agency is the most secretive of all US intelligence agencies? ›

The National Security Agency opens up for the first time about its role in the hunt for Osama bin Laden. It used to be known as “No Such Agency” — a play on its initials NSA.

Who leaked Pentagon Papers? ›

Two days prior to the Supreme Court's decision, Ellsberg publicly admitted his role in releasing the Pentagon Papers to the press, and surrendered to federal authorities at the U.S. Attorney's office in Boston.

Who is the largest producer of all source intelligence? ›

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is the largest producer of all-source national security intelligence for senior U.S. policymakers.

What is the biggest leak in video game history? ›

1. Insomniac Games. A few months after the triumphant release of Insomniac's Spider-Man 2, the studio had to go through the biggest video game leak in history in December 2023. A playable build of Insomniac's upcoming PS5 exclusive, Marvel's Wolverine leaked online, years before its planned release date.

Who are the founding fathers of intelligence? ›

During the Revolutionary War, John Jay played a crucial intelligence role directing clandestine operatives and running counterintelligence missions. This work directly informed the position he later took on the value of intelligence in one of the Federalist essays he authored.

What did WikiLeaks reveal? ›

On 25 November 2009, WikiLeaks released 570,000 intercepts of pager messages sent on the day of the September 11 attacks. Chelsea Manning commented that she recognized them as being from an NSA database. Among the released messages are communications between Pentagon officials and New York City Police Department.

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