Why Low-Ranking Soldiers Have Access to Top Secret Documents

Last week, a 21-year old airman from Massachusetts, Jack Teixeira, was arrested under the Espionage Act and charged with violating federal laws by sharing top secret military documents with an online gaming group.

Dave Philipps, a military correspondent for The Times, explains why so many low-level government workers have access to so much classified material.

Guest: Dave Philipps, a military correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading:

• The arrest of Mr. Teixeira lays bare the sheer volume of people who have clearance to view a swath of national security documents that the government categorizes as top secret.
• Mr. Teixeira grew up in a family with strong military ties, was quiet and somewhat awkward in high school and seemed, to some, unnervingly obsessed with war and guns.
• The Teixeira case is unusual even in the small world of leak cases.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.