According to a new report from the New York Times, the recent leak of classified Pentagon may be worse than originally thought. 

Per the Times: 

The 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, according to online postings reviewed by The New York Times.

That airman is 21-year-old Jack Teixeira. Teixeira is a Massachusetts Air National Guardsman, who specialized in cybersecurity. As such, he had top-level security clarence from the federal government.

Teixeira has been arrested by the FBI on suspicion of leaking the classified Pentagon documents that have revealed information about numerous topics, including the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

The new info

Teixeira has been arrested for allegedly leaking classified documents to Thug Shaker Central, a Discord group with about 50 members. Teixeira is alleged to have done so in October 2022.

According to the Times's new report, it now appears that Teixeria made another leak about eight months earlier, in February 2022.

The Times reports:

In February 2022, soon after the invasion of Ukraine, a user profile matching that of Airman Jack Teixeira began posting secret intelligence on the Russian war effort on a previously undisclosed chat group on Discord, a social media platform popular among gamers. The chat group contained about 600 members.

If true, this means that Teixeira began leaking earlier and the leaking was more widespread than previously thought.

As for what Teixeira leaked in February 2022, the Times reports:

The newly discovered information posted on the larger chat group included details about Russian and Ukrainian casualties, activities of Moscow’s spy agencies and updates on aid being provided to Ukraine. The user claimed to be posting information from the National Security Agency, the Central Intelligence Agency and other intelligence agencies.

What is going on here?

According to the Times's report, it was able to discover the fact that Teixeira leaked this information in February 2022 rather easily as the group was publicly listed on a YouTube channel.

Yet, it is not even known whether the federal government knows about this early leak.

Teixeira, after all, is facing charges related to the October 2022 leaks.

The Times's report, thus, is raising further criticism of the federal government for its apparent lack of security for its confidential information.

At the time of this writing, neither the FBI nor the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has commented on the Times's report.