Kash Patel says the leaker couldn’t have had legal access
Here’s the story from Patel, who [CORRECTION: was a deputy under Richard Grenell), former Director of National Intelligence:
Patel said, first, the suspected leaker, Jack Teixeira, would not have had access to the information without someone within the Department of Defense (DOD) or the intelligence community giving it to him, providing it to him, or telling him it should be put out there. “It’s just not possible,” he said…
“Ninety-nine percent of people who have a Top Secret/SCI clearance don’t have access to this information. And me, as the former deputy DNI and chief of staff of the DOD and publisher of the [Presidential Daily Brief], with the highest security classification, knows that, literally, there is not a lot of people in the U.S. that have access to this kind of intel. It’s done for a reason. So this doesn’t happen.”
“The amount of intelligence they got…Somebody’s giving them that type of documentation…
“I think he’s definitely working with other people in DOD or the intel space to get this information out.”
Make of it what you will. But the amount of access this low-level guy would had to have had in order to get these particular documents is vast.
Patel, a former federal prosecutor, said he does not believe “for a single second, this guy — a 21-year-old Air National Guardsman — ran this operation alone.”
I have no opinion on whether he must have acted alone or not. I’ll just observe that just because a former Federal prosecuter (a lawyer) can’t imagine a way some kid could gain access to such information without help doesn’t mean it can’t be done. But who knows?
“I’m a patsy.” Teixeria
Considering the amount of obfuscation surrounding this case in the MSM, it will be difficult to discover the truth of the matter. What is abundantly clear, however, is that members of GOPe cannot be trusted to have a rational opinion about this, the odious warmonger L Graham being so very eager indeed to attack the sensible MTG for her defense of the leak, which has exposed some of the lies of this administration concerning its ill-advised support of the corrupt “Welfare Queen” Zelensky and the desire of the Pentagon/DeepState to prolong the terrible quagmire/slaughter.
well he’s for the RESTRICT act, while pretending not to be, as I pointed out there is a pattern of operatives like agee and boyce onward to be able to access highly confidential information, and this hasn’t changed in 40 years,
There’s always been something off about this story. First off, if some air national guardsman can get it, it would already be in possession of the Russians, Chinese, etc. Documents with this level of classification aren’t just left lying around, they’re locked up in safes, in secure rooms, with a paper trail showing who had accessed them. I suspect the poor doofus kid was a patsy for whoever leaked them, for whatever reason, and whatever they really were.
You get in these intelligence matters and, leak or plant, everybody blows clouds of smoke. No way to know what’s really up with them.
I’m curious whether folks here consider it a good thing to have this information. Most of those in the IC I’ve listened to or read think most of this was already in the public domain. I suppose the uncertainty about casualties on both the Ukraine and Russia side was just that– uncertainty. So that might be considered new.
I think everyone knows we spy on our allies, and they spy on us.
But if the west can’t supply ammunition in a sufficient quantity to sustain the war, or provide enough ground based air defense missiles to prevent Russia from establishing air superiority, it’s going to make any counter offense by Ukraine harder to sustain and push through the defensive line Russia has been creating.
If just these two elements of arming Ukraine are true, even providing Ukraine with more advanced fighters like F16’s wouldn’t make enough of a difference– NATO would have to assume the role of providing air support. According to Dr. Justin Bonk, former pilot and now military analyst, NATO isn’t ready to engage in an air war with Russia. Leaving aside that would be an escalation leading to potentially catastrophic consequences. I suppose most here have read about the rumor that Zelensky, while in Poland a few weeks ago, was seeking agreement to have Poland annex part of Ukraine, should their late spring, early summer counter offense fail. That would definitely be a novel way of getting NATO into the war.
Europe’s Not Ready for an Air War Against Russia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93rzmvTiegI
A former CIA official under H. W. Bush is also saying this.
And it makes sense. The information is siloed. As I understand it, the info he released came from a variety of institutions, and you wouldn’t be able to put it together below the DNI level.
The question is, “what’s going on here?”. This is also true with respect to the Biden classified docs.
There’s a lot about this leak story I find convenient rather than legitimate.
However, I’m never surprised by the level of access given to IT people without proper consideration of the security access they should have. My father taught me this back in the 80’s when he worked a defense contractor. One day, my father, who was an engineer with a security clearance, came in to work to find out he no longer had access to data he needed to do his job. The IT department decided that the security system wasn’t good enough, so they had IT personnel “secure” all the information into one area, until a better protocol could be put in place. None of the IT personnel that “secured” the information had a security clearance. None of the engineers with security clearance were consulted about “securing” the data prior to the IT personnel taking control. The IT personnel had control, because they controlled all password permissions, and the IT personnel had never previously considered the implications of all IT personnel having that control.
You may think things have improved since the 1980’s, but when I worked in IT in the 2000’s; I saw the same exact structure. The first thing I learned after “qualifying” to be an IT administrator was the root admin password to every computer in our office. It was dr0wssap. No one would have every guessed and it was easy for all the admins to remember. I’ll refrain from naming the company and the division, but they are a world class defense contractor. The irony was my manager had me “qualify” to be an IT administrator, so that our team would have more control over the data we generated and could secure it ourselves.
Where I work today (a whole different industry), IT administration is handled by contractors, who can remote access into any computer and do whatever they need to do. Most data is stored “in the cloud” with document controllers all having access to newly established data stores. The people with the least control over the data are the people originating the data.
When I heard the news about Texiera. My first thought was “how did a National Guard airman have access to “Pentagon” classified data. Just because he was in intelligence didn’t mean he would have access to that intelligence. However, he wasn’t just in any base Intel department. He was at the base that handles the IT transmission of intelligence data across the world. So, it is entirely plausible to me that he could access the data.
However, I still believe the leak is convenient and the identified suspect a near perfect patsy. The leaked data seems to be intelligence assessments that doesn’t seem to give up means and methods. And the assessments seem like generic qualitative assessments rather than serious quantitative data assessment of the situation. Finally, it seems very odd that the news media that usually heralds leaked classified data seems so compliant in getting this leak stopped.
Brian E, it isn’t just about the war, but other things. Chinese spy balloons, Chinese influence in Latin America, etc.
As far as Ukraine, so far Russia has failed with respect to air superiority. That isn’t likely to change soon.
Leland,
The thing is, the documents are from multiple agencies. Some of it might be found on an NG classified server, but not all of it. Siloing is the tendency of the intel agencies in any case. The implication is that it came from a high level person.
The thing is, the documents are from multiple agencies.
Yes, this tells me it was a setup with the ANG kid as a helper or patsy.
the Journal (should be called the fusion daily) is still pushing the muh russia reed,
because truth is toxic or something
Yes, this tells me it was a setup with the ANG kid as a helper or patsy.
I concur. My previous point was to give a plausible explanation, but I’m still skeptical of it all. I can easily believe the information was “fed” to him and others, because it is so bland. In fact, if this was being sold as a sting operation to find out who might leak classified information, then that would make more sense, but still feel like another agenda was at play.
Brain E puts in a little disinformation of his own regarding Ukraine and Poland. The only country that Russia hates more than Ukraine is Poland.
Regarding NATOs capabilities relative to Russia, well there is definitely a problem with NATO not enough pilots, facilities, maintainers since the fall of the USSR. F-35s can’t do everything. Fortunately NATO isn’t just the Europeans, eh, Brain E? And fortunately Ukraine has shown the Russians aren’t NATO level, can’t even do SEAD against Ukraine.
Brain E:
NATO air forces are doomed
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jQE72i_BllY
Warms the cockles of your heart?
Considering the amount of obfuscation surrounding this case in the MSM, it will be difficult to discover the truth of the matter. What is abundantly clear, however, is that members of GOPe cannot be trusted to have a rational opinion about this, the odious warmonger L Graham being so very eager indeed to attack the sensible MTG for her defense of the leak, which has exposed some of the lies of this administration concerning its ill-advised support of the corrupt “Welfare Queen” Zelensky and the desire of the Pentagon/DeepState to prolong the terrible quagmire/slaughter.
==
Palaeoconservatives are adept at reminding you that their discussions lack even one appealing element that is unique to them.
At that age, if I recall, I had no idea how little I knew about how little I knew. I didn’t know of a great many things I might have thought to research or just casually look at.
The breadth of this kid’s reach seems out of character. Had to be handed to him. For some reason.
om, I should have specified European NATO air forces.
Also I spelled his name wrong, it’s Bronk, not Bonk.
“Professor Justin Bronk is the Senior Research Fellow for Airpower and Technology in the Military Sciences team at RUSI, and the Editor of the RUSI Defence Systems online journal.
His particular areas of expertise include the modern combat air environment, Russian and Chinese ground-based air defences and fast jet capabilities, the air war during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, unmanned combat aerial vehicles and novel weapons technology. He has written extensively for RUSI and a variety of external publications, as well as appearing regularly in the international media.
Justin also holds a Professor II position at the Royal Norwegian Air Force Academy, and is a member of the Editorial Board of the Scientific and Technical Journal “Weapons and Equipment” at the Central Scientific Research Institute of Arms and Military Equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”
Here is an article he wrote raising some of the issues he talked about with Ward Carroll.
Regenerating Warfighting Credibility for European NATO Air Forces
https://rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/whitehall-reports/regenerating-warfighting-credibility-european-nato-air-forces
RUSI is credible. NATO has not been the 13 minute treat that Russia made it out to be to the credulous, nontheless, Vlad screwed the pooch by convincing Finland and Sweden to formally pursue NATO membership and in Finland’s case become a NATO member. If Germany took it’s NATO obligations seriously, well that would be out of character.
Anything else about Poland and Ukraine?
”…NATO isn’t ready to engage in an air war with Russia.”
Oh my goodness! NATO and Russia aren’t even in the same league in terms of air power. The U. S. alone has 500 F-15s, 500 F/A-18s, and a 1,000 F-16s in service. If that weren’t enough, their pilots train to fight outnumbered 2, 3, and even 4 to 1. The end result of such an encounter is usually a victory for the good guys.
Lest you think I’m exaggerating, the F-15, for example, has had an even 100 documented air-to-air encounters with MiGs and Sukhois in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and elsewhere. The score? 100 dead MiGs and Sukois, zero dead Eagles. Then add in 120 active F-22s, which are as far above the Eagle as the Eagle is above the MiGs and Sukois, and 600 F-35s for Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD).
If Russia can barely fight the Ukrainian Air Force to a draw, they would be slaughtered by the U. S. Air Force. Really, the only thing keeping this thing from becoming a turkey shoot is fear of Russia’s nuclear weapons.
@j e
Which is why I encourage people to do research. Using whatever sources they choose, so long as they are willing to scrutinize them.
Sure, but tell me something I don’t know.
I view Graham as odious for all kinds of reasons, but “warmonger”? When was the last time you have applied that term to anybody in the Kremlin, you know, the people who actually started the war?
I’m split on the nature of the leak and prefer MTG to Graham (even if MTG is nuttier than squirrel food), but it does not help.
Ok. Can you articualte some?
Dear God, what a mess.
Firstly: “The desire of the Pentagon/Deep State to prolong the terrible quagmire/slaughter”? Mate, were you conscious in 2014-2015? The Pentagon, Deep State, Obama, and Biden pulled out ALL THE STOPS to try and stop or at least freeze the war, hence strongarming the various sides to agree to Minsk I and Minsk II, against the better judgement of many.
To the shock of people who haven’t studied almost every other post-Soviet conflict, THIS DIDN’T WORK. Not the least because it didn’t factor in Russia as one of the combatants rather than a “neutral” mediator, and because it could not be persuaded to stop abusing its artillery superiority.
Secondly: “Ill-advised support of the corrupt “Welfare Queen” Zelenskyy”? Ok, I’ll bite. How is it ill-advised?
It’s not like humiliating one of our chief enemies -as Putin is and has been for decades – for a comparatively modest cost to ourselves is a bad move. Especially since we bound ourselves to support Ukraine in the event it was attacked in Budapest 1994.
Thirdly: In what world does cutting aid help the US or make it more likely for the war to end? Especially given the track record of the other conflicts in Former Soviet Space?
@Brian E
I’m honestly divided. It really didn’t cover much I hadn’t already either sussed out or guessed, but it is a whole nother ball game to have it be reached by nerds without clearances online and another to have it come from the bowels of the National Security Leviathan. On one hand I feel very strongly that stuff from this shouldn’t be public knowledge UNDER NORMAL OR FUNCTIONAL SITUATIONS because the ability to calculate without rivals or even allies knowing is useful. But on the other hand this is anything but normal or functional circumstances, with the left weaponizing almost every aspect of government it can against us.
Indeed, at least those in the know, even if they don’t know how or why or what we know. Still amazing how many people forget that.
Agreed. AA has been one of the great weak points in the Ukrainian defensive doctrine and strategy for a long time. Still one of the most formidable systems in the world, but also under massive stress it was not prepared to handle and running low. Ultimately the need to send in more missiles, platforms, and radar will be paramount to checking the Russian Air Forces and I’d be more than happy to compromise on other aid items in exchange for that.
Simply put, the Russians do not know SEAD like we do and their strike packages – to the extent they exist -are quite small and weak, but they are numerous in a way the Ukrainian Air Force is not and they can slowly break down the defenses, as can things like drone attacks.
I think that’s rather drastic. The Ukrainian AA system is weakening and being attired out, but it is holding for now. The crucial move would be to shore it up and thus keep the tempo and depth of Russian aerial operations limited to around its current level, which would dovetail with other parts of a grand strategy such as training Ukrainian pilots.
Broadly agreed, though the other side of the coin is that Russia is even less prepared to engage in an air war with the West. From what we can see in the war the Kremlin doesn’t seem to have anything like the numbers or well oiled strike packages we and our close allies (well… depending on if we count the likes of France or Britain as “Close”) have, and we have a significant qualitative and quantitative advantage in the air over the Russian Air and Space forces, even if we had to 1 v 1 them without the Ukrainians or the rest of the Western Allies.
The big issue I see is that simply put, the environment would be hugely more hostile than anything any Western military has faced since the Vietnam War. The Soviets figured out fairly quickly after Uncle Adolf’s backstab that they were not going to be able to field a world-beating air force capable of trading with the West and winning, so they invested heavily into AA technology, with the result that the Pact and co are absolutely awash in cheap, generally powerful and reliable AA. That’s one reason why both sides have had a miserable time conducting aerial operations in Ukraine and why the Russians have the edge (due to quantity, generally quality, and experience) and might in the long term wear the Ukrainian defenses down.
I don’t really doubt that we would win (at least if the conventional engagement were allowed to carry on), but it would almost certainly take a much longer time and almost certainly higher cost than what we saw with say Desert Storm.
It almost certainly wouldn’t be as bad as the Mid-World War Bombing Campaigns or the strikes on North Vietnam were, but I’d be surprised if it turns out dramatically easier than the aerial campaign in Korea after the introduction of communist jets. And tellingly enough while we never lost the advantage there and heavily bled the Soviets and other communists of their air power, diplomatic and political considerations like war weariness and fear prevented complete victory.
I haven’t heard of that particular rumor, but I have heard the general claim that Poland is looking to reannex territories of “the Kresy” that it lost to Soviet invasion in 1939. It’s usually brought up by Kremlin propagandists or those that believe in them, but usually without much evidence (in particular the timing doesn’t make sense; why would Poland want to try and do it now rather than after the war is over or at least past it)?
Ironically I can ALMOST believe something like this might happen if things really did collapse so completely (far far beyond a merely failed or underwhelming spring offensive), in an attempt to provide at least some shelter for Ukrainian refugees and territory. But I can’t see it being a way to get NATO into the war readily, since I imagine Poland (or at least Poland’s NATO compatriots) would demand an end to combat operations from therer.
It’d also be a great way to get Right Sector and co trying to get Zelenskyy’s head on a pike. He already was on thin ice with many even outside the Neo-Fascists for being dovish and proposing things like the voting over territorial settlement, and giving up Ukrainian territory (even to Poland) would be viewed *unwelcomely.*
My gut feeling though is that it’s probably Kremlin propaganda, and on the off chance it was more than that was more likely to be very dire contingency planning.
@mkent
I absolutely agree, but they don’t have to be in order for what Brian E (and his sources, who are significantly pro-Ukrainian and generally pro-Western) said to be true.
I absolutely agree, but that doesn’t mean that victory will be easy or cheap. Western air losses since Vietnam have generally been quite minimal (especially among fixed wing aviation) but they have happened, and often against air and aa forces much weaker than even Russia’s diminished state (like we saw in Yugoslavia’s breakup wars).
It also doesn’t account for how staggeringly prolific and generally powerful Soviet Bloc and post-Soviet AA is, which is one reason why the air war in Ukraine peaked early with high intensity and high losses, and then simmered down to what we see today. I have great faith that the the US and other Western air forces could and even will prevail, but the time and cost might be great.
I agree with caveats, but slaughtering the Russian Air Force wouldn’t mean winning the air war unto itself with AA coverage and the possible interplay between them. The Russians generally lack the equipment and technology to seamlessly integrate their fighters’ kit with ground based AA, but that doesn’t mean they can’t cooperate at all or make winning air superiority that much harder and costlier.
It would be unlike anything we’ve really seen since Vietnam, if not since the mid point of WWII. And while I’m quite sure we would win (at least conventionally) that doesn’t mean we’d be ready for the demands and costs of it.
A rat and a patsy walk into a bar…
again, with due respect, we are being ‘buried’ right here, by forces that are not Russian, and we are looking for ‘monsters to fight abroad’ when we get our act together, rebuild our military, purge the scorpions who are corrupting it, our energy infrastructure, we can tackle putin,
That sounds pretty accurate to me.
“Biden” to Putin:
‘Listen tovarich—just a joke, Vlad, just a joke—“I” aim to kneecap the USA but “I”‘m gonna need a bit of help from YOU, no malarkey. D’ye’ think yer up to it?
‘OK, great…What’s that? Yeah, I now; but there’s no other way. You know, difinsormatzah, or whatever, yeah that.
‘And by the way, “I”‘m also gonna need a hand with regard to those arse-hat mullets in Eye-ran and those freakin’ Izzy’s who think they actually run me, my Lord they’re worse than a mushroom cloud of gnats, they actually thought that by giving “me” a shitty piece of metal they could walk all over “me”. Anyway, enough about them. Are ye’ in? You realize that the timeline here is not really under “my” control, right?
‘You also know that this conversation NEVER happened, right? And that I’m gonna hafta things that might seem a bit, um, unpleasant for ye’, Right? But there’s no other way, you know that, right?
‘OK, great, let’s arm wrestle….’
@miguel cervantes
Agreed, which is why Ukraine will always have to take a backseat, and why even as one of the resident anti-Putin hawks I would sacrifice Ukraine in a heartbeat if I thought we could fix.
Agreed, but this is one reason why I support aid to Ukraine. The longer he is bogged down fighting in Ukraine, the more time we have to deal with the usurpers at home and win back control of our country without him doing too much intervention.
thats more cogent than shambling ever is, barry, mayor lutzov’s wife baturina, gave 300 million to hunter’s outfit, in addition to whatever in kind art purchases might have been made in the interim,
we are being sacrificed, my kinsman jose perez san roman, google that name, was foolish enough to trust kennedy or dulles, the same sides of a coin like the buchanans in the great gatsby, they trample things and then move on to other things,
Milley, or Austin, or Blinken care about Ukraine only in so far as they further our capitulation, now Wolfram and Hart (I mean Blackrock) want to pour another 400 billion, into that benighted former ottoman sanjak,
@miguel cervantes
You are kin of the great Pepe? Damn. Yeah, that makes my mouth sour all the harder. And I concur. Playa Giron was one of the great follies of US policy, and made into an outright tragedy by JFK’s refusal to support. My sympathies to your kin. He was a great man and true opponent of tyranny (both Batista and Castro), and in a better world he would have been the leader Cuba deserved.
Agreed, which is why I want to limit our support of Ukraine.
Point of order. Ukraine was never an Ottoman Sanjak. Indeed Ottoman administration rarely stretched North of Crimea.
“I have no opinion on whether he must have acted alone or not. I’ll just observe that just because a former Federal prosecuter (a lawyer) can’t imagine a way some kid could gain access to such information without help doesn’t mean it can’t be done. But who knows?”
It wasn’t that Patel was a federal prosecutor, but that he was speaking as the former deputy DNI, and right hand man to former DNI and Trump’s last NSA, Rick Grenell. When he was the one preparing the PDBs, he had to have had access to practically everything, and didn’t, which both Grenell and he have been pointing out a lot since Trump left office. There was a lot of classified information that turned out to have been withheld from Trump, Grenell, and Patel. BTW, this is likely why the FBI perjury trap was utilized in the first weeks of the Trump Administration to take out Gen Flynn, because he knew a lot of what was being hidden. Oh, and we found with the first Trump Impeachment that much of the missing intelligence involved Ukraine.
In any case, I think that what Patel was saying is that if he, Grenell, and Trump would have had a hard time getting this information, then there is no way that a low level enlisted Airman should have been able to get access to it. The corollary to that is that someone, or more likely someone’s, who had access to the information had to have fed it to him. One alternative, posed here, is that our system of protecting and maintaining classified information has a fatal weakness – system administrators. If, in 2023, that would be inexcusable. But then, we are dealing with a massive government bureaucracy…
exactly how would he know what to look for, with boyce, the trw contractor did relay info say to pine gap station in australia, of course they handled the satellites,
Bruce.
System administrators may be near to magic in their ability to roam the system, if we are getting the correct explanation.
It’s the breadth of the take which interests me. Odd for a guy that young. If he’s trying to use this to out-count fellow rivet-counters in a video game, he wouldn’t be bothering wit ammo orders from South Korea.
America had the same problem in Vietnam, Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan, domestic communities, etc. Short of choosing to open a mass abortion field, planned populationhood, there will be challenges to isolate the general population from those that elect to prey upon them. Good for the Ukrainians and Russians to avoid indiscriminate abortions and injury of Serbia/Kosovo past and Obama/Biden’s World War Spring series, including the Slavic Spring in progress since the violent overthrow of Kiev in 2014.
Interesting perspective by a former CIA analyst as to why so much information becomes classified. He worked in the public information sector. Paraphrasing: No one wanted to hear my stuff, even if it was the best information available, but wanted to see the Secret and Top Secret stuff. Hence the tendency to classify everything.
He makes the point that the leaker’s generation, “born with a smartphone in their hand” blurs the digital reality and the physical reality– to them they are the same, which might explain some of the other pathologies culture is facing.
They spend some time talking about the oath the leaker had to take– and the fact oaths are almost meaningless to this generation, since they feel they are now able to escape consequences to life.
I don’t agree with his conclusions, but still a thoughtful conversation.
Martin Gurri: The Pentagon leak is only the beginning
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvdM_VG6Abs
n.n
But the invasion of Crimea and formenting civil war in the Donetsk basin in 2014 was mostly peaceful. Da?
volodya knows that the dems are an easy mark, under w they closed out the georgian invasion, with about 100 days, under obama they handed out food rations and medical supplies,
But this is such a well known vulnerability. Back in the early 1980s, 40 years ago, I had a DOE Q clearance. At Sandia, when a disk containing classified information (typically related to nuclear weapons designs) was mounted, a red light was set flashing in the computer room, and Need To Know was imposed on the systems console. I could muck around with the systems internals at other times, but wasn’t allowed to linger in the computer room when that red light was flashing. My point is that even back then, the systems administrator vulnerability was known. And, my question, of why, in 2023, this vulnerability isn’t vigorously addressed.
How can one possibly know that the leaks are, in fact, genuine or whether they are false and have been planted (as in, what does this administration WANT people to believe, to think, to conclude? Or IOW, which tree/trees do they want people, or agencies, allies or enemies barking up? And why might they want this?)
Seems to me that if they have you totally skeptical about, ie disbelieving EVERYTHING, then they’ve essentially encrypted EVERYTHING.
Nonapod from the top:
Patel, a former federal prosecutor, said he does not believe “for a single second, this guy — a 21-year-old Air National Guardsman — ran this operation alone.”
I have no opinion on whether he must have acted alone or not. I’ll just observe that just because a former Federal prosecuter (a lawyer) can’t imagine a way some kid could gain access to such information without help doesn’t mean it can’t be done. But who knows?
__________
A biographical rejoinder about Patel — besides assisting DNI director Grenell, — which illuminates the source that nonapod questions.
Kesh Patel is a lawyer who long did terrorist counter-intelligence as an FBI Special Agent. In short, Patel KNOWS because he’s been at the bottom and at the top of the Intel Info-space food chain or hierarchy. His experience reinforces his claims to substance and authoritative insight.
These are sound grounds for believing him. He’s got the wide-ranging exposure to secret federal information.