{"id":43059,"date":"2023-08-29T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-29T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/08\/29\/texas-guardsmen-spied-on-migrants-via-whatsapp-mishandled-secret-docs\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T04:17:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T04:17:34","slug":"texas-guardsmen-spied-on-migrants-via-whatsapp-mishandled-secret-docs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2023\/08\/29\/texas-guardsmen-spied-on-migrants-via-whatsapp-mishandled-secret-docs\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Guardsmen spied on migrants via WhatsApp, mishandled secret docs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>This article is co-published and co-reported with The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit newsroom that informs Texans about state policy and politics. <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/newsletters\/the-brief\/?utm_medium=website&#038;utm_source=trib-ads-owned&#038;utm_campaign=trib-marketing&#038;utm_term=inline-CTA-brief\"><i>Sign up for The Brief<\/i><\/a><i>, its daily newsletter.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When officers from the Texas National Guard showed up to their 7 a.m. meeting with federal agents from Homeland Security Investigations in El Paso, they didn\u2019t arrive empty-handed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Six military intelligence officials turned over a list of names at the February 2022 meeting. The Texans were part of an intelligence directorate supporting Operation Lone Star, Gov. Greg Abbott\u2019s state-run border mission. The officers, which included the group\u2019s top two leaders, told federal agents they\u2019d secretly infiltrated invite-only WhatsApp group chats filled with migrants and smugglers and wanted their help investigating the targets they\u2019d identified, according to a sworn statement attached to a whistleblower complaint filed later that month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Homeland Security officials in the meeting rebuffed the Texans on the spot \u2014 with one official saying that they were an investigative body and \u201cnot an intelligence agency,\u201d the whistleblower recalled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An investigation by Military Times and The Texas Tribune has found that Texas National Guard leaders disbanded Operation Lone Star\u2019s intelligence wing after whistleblowers reported the WhatsApp surveillance, which targeted migrant groups to track them through Mexico, because they believed it violated long-standing rules against state-run spy operations. During the same period, another team from the intelligence directorate allegedly sent classified FBI intelligence to their Texas Guard colleagues in an apparent violation of federal secrecy laws, according to an internal incident report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At least four intelligence officers have faced interim administrative discipline in the debacle\u2019s wake:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Lt. Col. David \u201cEric\u201d Tyler led the border intelligence section from December 2021 to fall 2022.<\/li><li>Maj. Dezi J. Rios, the intelligence wing\u2019s deputy director, allegedly oversaw the WhatsApp collection operation.<\/li><li>Chief Warrant Officer 2 Eric E. Hack led the El Paso team that allegedly shared classified FBI intelligence.<\/li><li>Then-1st Lt. Emmanuel L. Pierre, a military intelligence officer from a subordinate unit, allegedly began the WhatsApp intelligence operation about a month before Rios arrived at the border.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Texas Military Department\u2019s inspector general, with assistance from the National Guard Bureau, investigated \u201cpotential questionable intelligence activities,\u201d the agency confirmed in response to questions for this story. The agency said in a statement that the watchdog concluded its investigation in September 2022 but has not yet shared its final report, adding that it will \u201cfinalize\u201d discipline once leaders receive it. Leaders initially reorganized and eventually disbanded the intelligence directorate in fall 2022, folding the remaining personnel into the mission\u2019s operations section, a source familiar with the mission\u2019s organization said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"5635\" height=\"4077\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/7788534.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-87149\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/7788534.jpg.jpg 5635w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/7788534.jpg.jpg?resize=300,217 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/7788534.jpg.jpg?resize=768,556 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/7788534.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,741 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/7788534.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,1111 1536w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/7788534.jpg.jpg?resize=2048,1482 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 5635px) 100vw, 5635px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A Texas National Guard member assigned to Operation Lone Star stands watch in El Paso, Texas, May 9, 2023. (Spc. Joe Cantu\/Army)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to an official document that Rios provided to Military Times and the Tribune summarizing part of the investigation, the inspector general\u2019s office found that the WhatsApp scheme was an unauthorized foreign intelligence operation and faulted Rios for overseeing Pierre\u2019s work \u2014 a finding Rios disputes. It\u2019s unclear if the inspector general concluded that any other officers broke the rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two of the implicated officers, Tyler and Rios, told Military Times and the Tribune that senior leaders set them up to take the fall for the operation. Both claimed they shared concerns about the legality of Pierre\u2019s WhatsApp work to the mission\u2019s top brass at the time, Brig. Gen. Monie Ulis and Col. Kevin Boates, but were unable to convince them to end it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to a sworn statement Rios made June 25, he and state intelligence officials \u201cwere unable to convince [Col.] Boates or [Brig. Gen.] Ulis\u201d to stop the WhatsApp operation. In a Dec. 27, 2021 email \u2014 obtained through an open records request \u2014 Rios claimed to have \u201cexpressed my reservations with [Col.] Boates and [Brig. Gen.] Ulis\u201d about the WhatsApp operation to no avail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In his sworn statement \u2014 included in his own June complaint with the inspector general alleging the state failed to set clear guidelines for intelligence activity at the border \u2014 Rios said Boates \u201cordered me to oversee\u201d Pierre\u2019s WhatsApp operation while simultaneously blocking Rios from stopping it. He filed the complaint because the investigation blocked his promotion to lieutenant colonel, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tyler, who has served in the Texas Guard for 33 years, said through his attorney that he was \u201cdisappointed that \u2026 I\u2019m being sanctioned based [on] an investigation report that I\u2019m not allowed to see.\u201d The lieutenant colonel added, \u201cI assume the reason that they won\u2019t tell me anything or provide me any evidence is that if I somehow failed to supervise a junior officer that reported directly to [Brig. Gen.] Ulis, then Ulis should be accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ulis was appointed as the deputy commanding general of U.S. Army South in June, a role held simultaneously with his appointment as the state\u2019s assistant adjutant general.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hack, Boates and Ulis did not respond to interview requests made via phone and email. Pierre declined to comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For this story, Military Times and the Tribune obtained more than 750 pages of internal Texas Guard records, spoke with intelligence oversight experts, and interviewed three verified Texas National Guard service members who had direct knowledge of the events. They requested anonymity because they feared retaliation from state officials and have not been accused of wrongdoing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u201cUniquely vulnerable to abuse\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When the WhatsApp intelligence operation began in fall 2021, Operation Lone Star was undergoing a multibillion-dollar expansion from a lean, volunteer-staffed outfit into <a href=\"https:\/\/www.armytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2022\/02\/01\/haste-and-planning-failures-doomed-operation-lone-stars-troops-to-suffer\/\">a long-term domestic military deployment of unprecedented scale<\/a> staffed by part-time troops who are effectively temporary state employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The pseudo-military mission \u2014 which at its height deployed 10,000 Guard members across the state \u2014 had growing pains, including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2022\/02\/24\/national-guard-Texas-border-morale-survey\/\">payroll problems and poor living conditions<\/a> for the service members, that occurred due to poor planning and a lack of bureaucratic preparedness. Its intelligence efforts weren\u2019t exempt from the planning gaps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"3333\" height=\"2222\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/v-Dec-20-IPA-19.JPG.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-87633\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/v-Dec-20-IPA-19.JPG.jpg 3333w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/v-Dec-20-IPA-19.JPG.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/v-Dec-20-IPA-19.JPG.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/v-Dec-20-IPA-19.JPG.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/v-Dec-20-IPA-19.JPG.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/v-Dec-20-IPA-19.JPG.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 3333px) 100vw, 3333px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Texas National Guard take positions along the Rio Grande to help patrol the border between the U.S. and Mexico, Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2022, in El Paso, Texas. (Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Operation Lone Star\u2019s commanders demanded military-style intelligence from their intelligence personnel, according to Tyler and three other troops with direct knowledge of the work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cEveryone [in charge] wanted to pretend it was like Iraq in 2003,\u201d one service member said in an interview. \u201cThey wanted to do Army stuff, even though this is [legally] not Army stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAll the Generals wanted to know about the next mass migration,\u201d Tyler said through his attorney in an email when asked if he was ever pressured to violate intel rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to official planning documents and three soldiers with knowledge of the mission, leaders directed the border intelligence wing to detect the \u201ccapabilities of transnational criminal organizations\u201d in Mexico and track their \u201ccriminal activity,\u201d in addition to predicting where migrants would try to cross the border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Such intelligence work is essentially unheard of for National Guard members on state active duty \u2014 a state-funded status typically used for short-lived missions. Typically, Guard intelligence personnel deployed under such orders are limited to predicting and assessing the severity of disaster damage, perhaps following a storm or during riots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The demand for intelligence posed a problem, too. According to National Guard Bureau regulations and a Guard intelligence representative, personnel on state active duty are barred from doing national security foreign intelligence work, and they\u2019re banned from using Defense Department intelligence systems or techniques, known as tradecraft. Instead, they may, to the extent permitted by state law and regulations, support partner law enforcement agencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">State-level intelligence oversight officials wanted to coordinate closely with the National Guard Bureau to ensure compliance. But as transgressions piled up, one state intelligence official, Chief Warrant Officer 4 X\u2019Lenske Sampson, emailed border intelligence officers and warned of \u201cthe potential fallout if the media [were] to find out or assume the Texas National Guard is conducting Intelligence Operations on the border.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sampson did not respond to interview requests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His counterparts on the border \u2014 including Tyler, the top intelligence officer there \u2014 disagreed and argued via email that federal regulations didn\u2019t apply to their conduct on state duty so long as they didn\u2019t use federally controlled intelligence systems and tools. Tyler\u2019s attorney, Doug O\u2019Connell, echoed that argument in an Aug. 16 statement to Military Times and the Tribune.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAny competent attorney that understands basic Constitutional law will tell you that when the militia is deployed by the Governor, for a state mission, federal regulations are inapplicable unless federal funds or equipment are involved,\u201d O\u2019Connell said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tyler chafed at the restrictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAll I get is \u2018No,\u2019\u201d he lamented in a February 2022 email to a state official over limits on intelligence training. \u201cI need a way to \u2018Yes.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The internal documents show widespread confusion and debate over what rules applied and when. And with intelligence work, the stakes are high \u2014 today\u2019s strict oversight procedures exist because Defense Department personnel ran massive domestic intelligence operations <a href=\"https:\/\/dodsioo.defense.gov\/About-DOD-SIOO\/History\/\">during the Vietnam War that targeted Americans<\/a> based solely on how they legally exercised their First Amendment rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"6000\" height=\"4002\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Temp-Migrant-Processing-El-Paso-JV-18.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-87642\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Temp-Migrant-Processing-El-Paso-JV-18.jpg.jpg 6000w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Temp-Migrant-Processing-El-Paso-JV-18.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Temp-Migrant-Processing-El-Paso-JV-18.jpg.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Temp-Migrant-Processing-El-Paso-JV-18.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Temp-Migrant-Processing-El-Paso-JV-18.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,1025 1536w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Temp-Migrant-Processing-El-Paso-JV-18.jpg.jpg?resize=2048,1366 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 6000px) 100vw, 6000px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A group of migrants from Venezuela walk between the southern border wall and the Rio Grande river towards a temporary border patrol processing facility on Oct. 6, 2022 in El Paso, TX. (Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">National Guard intelligence efforts like the WhatsApp operation are \u201cuniquely vulnerable to abuse\u201d without prior coordination with state and federal law enforcement, said lawyer Charles McCullough, who oversaw intelligence oversight for the intelligence community\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dni.gov\/index.php\/what-we-do\/members-of-the-ic\">18 civilian and military organizations<\/a> from 2011 to 2017 as its Senate-confirmed inspector general.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">McCullough, who also served as the National Security Agency\u2019s top investigator, described the authorities governing intelligence work as \u201coverlapping and arcane,\u201d and said that the Texas Military Department, like any agency undertaking such an effort, owed clearer guidelines to its personnel from the mission\u2019s outset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The former watchdog added that if commanders override concerns from intelligence oversight officials \u2014 as two implicated officers claim Boates and Ulis did \u2014 they should bear responsibility for any violations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Michael German, a former FBI special agent who studies intelligence policy as a fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, warned that if states try to run their own foreign military intelligence operations, they risk upsetting the delicate ecosystem of international diplomacy with unpredictable spin-off effects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">German also said operations like the WhatsApp scheme put intelligence operatives at risk and endanger national security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHaving untrained people running ad hoc operations puts them at risk and dilutes the value of [real intelligence]&#8230;because it gets mixed with information that doesn\u2019t go through the same vetting process,\u201d he said. \u201cAdding another layer of inappropriate [intelligence] activities isn\u2019t making America safer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Burners on the border<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When around 15,000 migrants of Haitian descent streamed across the Rio Grande near Del Rio in September 2021, then-1st Lt. Emmanuel Pierre found new demand for a decades-old skill set.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pierre was born in Haiti in 1978, according to a 2017<a href=\"https:\/\/www.angelo.edu\/live\/profiles\/7976-interview-with-emmanuel-pierre\"> interview<\/a>. The native Haitian Creole speaker learned English and translated for U.S. and United Nations personnel before immigrating to Florida. He enlisted in the Army in 2006, and eventually became a Texas National Guard intelligence officer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After volunteering for Operation Lone Star in early 2021, the lieutenant quickly became an assistant intelligence officer based in Weslaco with Task Force Salerno, which later became Task Force East after the border mission expanded, three sources said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to internal emails, Texas Department of Public Safety and Border Patrol officials tapped Pierre as a translator during the Del Rio crisis, authorizing him to wear civilian clothes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The emails offer conflicting tales. In one version, Pierre simply translated. Other officials claimed the intelligence officer concealed his identity and did \u201cclandestine\u201d interviews on U.S. soil, possibly violating rules against using human intelligence \u201ctradecraft\u201d while on state duty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An official from Customs and Border Protection, the parent agency of Border Patrol, denied that its agents requested Pierre \u2014 or any Texas Guardsman \u2014 for translation services during the Del Rio crisis. The Texas Department of Public Safety did not respond to emailed questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"7454\" height=\"4972\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Del-Rio-Migrants-Surge-JV-36.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-87652\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Del-Rio-Migrants-Surge-JV-36.jpg.jpg 7454w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Del-Rio-Migrants-Surge-JV-36.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Del-Rio-Migrants-Surge-JV-36.jpg.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Del-Rio-Migrants-Surge-JV-36.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Del-Rio-Migrants-Surge-JV-36.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,1025 1536w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Del-Rio-Migrants-Surge-JV-36.jpg.jpg?resize=2048,1366 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 7454px) 100vw, 7454px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Haitian migrants gather along the banks of the Rio Grande as a Texas Department of Safety helicopter flies overhead in Del Rio on Thursday, Sept.16, 2021. (Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But all accounts agreed on one thing: Pierre carried a cellphone that had access to WhatsApp chats from migrants and smugglers. Many migrants use the encrypted messaging app to communicate internationally during their journey to the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In an email to Tyler, Rios claimed that Boates, the Operation Lone Star deputy commander, purchased the phone for Pierre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The WhatsApp chats were in English, Creole and Spanish, later emails claimed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Texas intelligence officials were alarmed by Pierre\u2019s conduct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Oct. 26, 2021, a state intelligence officer, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Matthew Sugars, emailed the border intelligence directorate to request written statements about the work a soldier \u2014 whose name was redacted in records \u2014 did with Border Patrol intelligence agents. Sugars did not respond to an interview request. Three people from the mission identified the redacted soldier as Pierre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the days following Sugars\u2019 email, he and border mission officials feverishly worked to update their \u201cguidance\u201d for intelligence personnel on the border. But the two sides struggled to settle on a rulebook, and a final version was not completed for about 10 weeks. As they debated, the WhatsApp operation continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Boates, the mission\u2019s deputy commander, shot a Nov. 4, 2021, email to Rios ordering him \u201cto assist with analysis of the information\u201d that Pierre received on the phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In order to comply, Rios began monitoring Pierre\u2019s WhatsApp activity through a DoD computer linked to the phone, according to the whistleblower\u2019s sworn statement and emails from state officials. Investigators later found he used the computer between Nov. 1, 2021, and April 2022, though he disputed that timeline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rios also assigned a junior soldier to translate Spanish messages from the migrant groups, two sources and documents confirmed. A Guardsman with knowledge of the operation said Rios \u201cwould have her just go in and ask questions,\u201d but could not definitively say what she asked. The source noted that under federal authority, sending messages in targeted conversations, as opposed to passive listening, requires high-level approvals and strict controls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In his June 2023 sworn statement and his contemporaneous emails, Rios insisted he used the WhatsApp-linked computer to monitor Pierre for potential wrongdoing. He reiterated this argument in interviews, and he also emphasized Boates\u2019 alleged role directing the operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Because Rios wouldn\u2019t let others use the computer, his peers and subordinates grew suspicious, a whistleblower\u2019s sworn statement said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Alarm bells<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In late December 2021, a service member on the border mission reported Pierre\u2019s WhatsApp work as questionable intelligence activity. It was the first of three such reports confirmed by Military Times and the Tribune.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A former signals intelligence specialist who spoke with Military Times and the Tribune likened such reports to pulling the emergency brake on a car \u2014 they often immediately shut down units for investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cEven the accusation of a questionable intelligence activity could bring an office to an immediate halt,\u201d said the specialist, who requested anonymity because he works on defense contracts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">State officials tried to do that after receiving the complaint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"7008\" height=\"4672\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/7794473.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-87328\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/7794473.jpg.jpg 7008w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/7794473.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/7794473.jpg.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/7794473.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/7794473.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/7794473.jpg.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 7008px) 100vw, 7008px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A soldier from Operation Lone Star stands guard near El Paso, Texas, on the Rio Grande River, May 2023. (Mark Otte\/Texas Military Department)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Air Force Maj. Meredith Zinni, a state intelligence officer, sent an urgent email on Dec. 30, 2021, that announced the complaint against Pierre\u2019s \u201ccontinued clandestine style operations.\u201d Zinni, who did not respond to an interview request, insisted that the WhatsApp operation \u201cMUST IMMEDIATELY CEASE.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a subsequent email, Sugars also said \u201call actions\u201d Pierre had taken using WhatsApp violated National Guard restrictions banning intelligence work while on state active duty. He claimed Texas Military Department attorneys agreed the actions \u201care violations of [state active duty] status.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tyler waited a week before he ordered Pierre to stop communicating with \u201cany foreign national using WhatsApp or any other app or platform\u201d on Jan. 6, 2022. A week later, Tyler asked Rios to help monitor Pierre for violations of that order, according to an email and a statement from his attorney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the lieutenant colonel also argued the state was wrong about how and when intelligence oversight rules applied, claiming Operation Lone Star and Pierre\u2019s actions presented a \u201cunique situation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rios claimed the WhatsApp operation ended in January 2022, when he transitioned to preserving evidence of Pierre\u2019s transgressions, according to emails and statements he wrote. But another soldier\u2019s questionable intelligence activity report claimed Rios, through his computer, had access to the WhatsApp account and used it for more than monitoring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The soldier\u2019s report was made in the wake of the Feb. 1, 2022, meeting with Homeland Security Investigations officials, where the Texans purportedly presented the list of names gathered from WhatsApp for further investigation. The complainant attended the meeting, which they detailed in a sworn statement to investigators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rios and Tyler, who were the senior Texas Guard intelligence officials present that day, confirmed the meeting occurred but denied handing over a list of names from WhatsApp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"3936\" height=\"2624\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Roma-Border-Crossing-SP-1455.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-87657\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Roma-Border-Crossing-SP-1455.jpg.jpg 3936w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Roma-Border-Crossing-SP-1455.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Roma-Border-Crossing-SP-1455.jpg.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Roma-Border-Crossing-SP-1455.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Roma-Border-Crossing-SP-1455.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Roma-Border-Crossing-SP-1455.jpg.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 3936px) 100vw, 3936px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Unaccompanied minor asylum seekers are apprehended by Customs and Border Protection after crossing the border in Roma on Aug. 3, 2021. (Sophie Park\/The Texas Tribune)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to documents and Guard members with knowledge of the events, investigators stepped in after the soldier\u2019s report and started interviews about the WhatsApp operation in March 2022. The Texas Military Department confirmed its inspector general investigation, which began at an unspecified date, brought in \u201cNational Guard Bureau intelligence oversight officials\u201d for assistance that same month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s unclear why Texas National Guard officials tapped Rios as the mission\u2019s deputy intelligence director in October 2021. The intel officer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ksat.com\/news\/local\/2021\/11\/19\/san-antonio-police-officer-with-long-history-of-road-rage-incidents-resigns\/\">had resigned from the San Antonio Police Department<\/a> that same month after his involvement in a third road rage incident in four years led to misdemeanor criminal charges. (In May 2023, the Bexar County district attorney\u2019s office ultimately dropped the charges against Rios. The former police officer was not arrested or charged in connection with the first two road rage incidents.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Secrets spilled<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, another policy debate raged over Operation Lone Star\u2019s efforts to embed intelligence officers with federal agencies throughout Texas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It had been months in the making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In January 2022, the FBI\u2019s El Paso Field Office invited Operation Lone Star to embed a small team there to bolster its intelligence ranks. The FBI\u2019s invitation email also noted that a memorandum of understanding, or MOU, would set limits on who could work on what and when. Such agreements also delineate access to classified information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Similar arrangements had been successful elsewhere. Under formal agreements in Laredo, a number of Texas Guard members successfully joined an anti-cartel joint law enforcement task force named <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/usao-sdtx\/pr\/several-convicted-16-million-cartel-drug-conspiracy\">Blue Indigo<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But El Paso\u2019s FBI agreement was never signed amid various delays and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2022\/03\/14\/texas-greg-abbott-border-military-thomas-suelzer\/\">leadership changes<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, Hack, the intelligence warrant officer whose civilian job was as an intel analyst at the FBI\u2019s El Paso office, moved home and embedded in his old workplace as an Operation Lone Star representative. A second soldier joined him there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An operations officer on the border mission learned of the El Paso team in late March and filed a questionable intelligence activity whistleblower report on April 1, 2022, that included screenshots of messages and phone records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The officer argued that the collaboration violated intelligence oversight rules because there wasn\u2019t a signed MOU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The officer did not respond to an interview request from Military Times and the Tribune.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"7952\" height=\"5304\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Operation-Lone-Star-VGC-22.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-87661\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Operation-Lone-Star-VGC-22.jpg.jpg 7952w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Operation-Lone-Star-VGC-22.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Operation-Lone-Star-VGC-22.jpg.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Operation-Lone-Star-VGC-22.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Operation-Lone-Star-VGC-22.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,1025 1536w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Operation-Lone-Star-VGC-22.jpg.jpg?resize=2048,1366 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 7952px) 100vw, 7952px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">People in Piedras Negras, Mexico, are seen taking photos, through recently installed concertina wire, of the U.S. side as Border Patrol agents patrol Rio Grande in Eagle Pass, Texas on Nov. 8, 2021. (Ver\u00f3nica G. C\u00e1rdenas for ProPublica\/The Texas Tribune)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Within hours of the report, Tyler argued with state intelligence officials again over the legal authorities that allowed state active duty soldiers to work with federal agencies. In an April 3, 2022, email, he claimed that National Guard Bureau intelligence oversight procedures don\u2019t apply to Operation Lone Star.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But then, in late May 2022, Hack\u2019s team at the FBI El Paso field office allegedly \u201cused classified systems that were not authorized\u201d and sent classified FBI intelligence back to Operation Lone Star, according to an internal Texas Guard incident report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A service member from the mission said the incident occurred on May 24, and the internal report said that state intelligence officials discovered it May 26.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Fallout<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Within days of the alleged spill, the Texas Guard suspended Tyler\u2019s security clearance, and investigators came calling, according to emails he sent in June 2022. The lieutenant colonel told investigators he thought they were \u201cmisled and misinformed,\u201d arguing that any transgressions were born of \u201cconfusion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hack\u2019s military personnel record was flagged for administrative investigation on June 2, 2022, the day of the incident report, and he was sent home from the border mission. Flagged troops are blocked from awards, promotions or other favorable personnel actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Classified document spills can be punished as criminal offenses, but they\u2019re often quietly handled via administrative means, according to German, a fellow at the Brennan Center. He decried the practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf you\u2019re not going to get in trouble for breaking the rules, and you have a very important issue, the rules aren\u2019t going to be a very strong bulwark against that kind of abuse,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s not clear whether Hack has faced any formal discipline in either his military or civilian careers. The FBI, through an unnamed spokesperson, refused to comment on Hack or his status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe FBI takes the unauthorized removal, retention or transmission of sensitive information, whether classified or unclassified, very seriously and will continue its commitment to prevent any mishandling of sensitive information,\u201d the bureau said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rios and Tyler were sent home from Operation Lone Star in fall 2022 amid the investigations, they confirmed to Military Times and the Tribune.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to the partial summary of the investigative report Rios provided, the inspector general substantiated intelligence oversight violations by at least Pierre and Rios. The officer received the document, a summary of \u201cadverse information\u201d in a restricted Army database, because the investigation\u2019s findings blocked his promotion to lieutenant colonel. Military Times and the Tribune could not independently confirm whether other officers had adverse findings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But it was nearly a year before Tyler, Rios and Pierre also received administrative investigation flags on their military personnel records in May 2023 \u2014 one day after Rios emailed a Texas Military Department general to ask why his promotion had been blocked. Tyler and Rios also confirmed that their security clearances are suspended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"7593\" height=\"5065\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Operation-Lone-Star-VGC-03.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"A National Guard soldier oversees an area where the border wall ends in Del Rio, on Nov. 7, 2021.\" class=\"wp-image-86580\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Operation-Lone-Star-VGC-03.jpg.jpg 7593w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Operation-Lone-Star-VGC-03.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Operation-Lone-Star-VGC-03.jpg.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Operation-Lone-Star-VGC-03.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Operation-Lone-Star-VGC-03.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,1025 1536w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Operation-Lone-Star-VGC-03.jpg.jpg?resize=2048,1366 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 7593px) 100vw, 7593px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A National Guard soldier oversees an area where the border wall ends in Del Rio, on Nov. 7, 2021. (Ver\u00f3nica G. C\u00e1rdenas for ProPublica\/The Texas Tribune)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The three anonymous service members who spoke with Military Times and the Tribune said their experience left them disillusioned. They lost faith in the Texas National Guard\u2019s ability to ethically execute its missions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf they\u2019re willing to compromise their integrity over something like that,\u201d one soldier asked, \u201cwho knows where they\u2019ll stop?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A second service member said he\u2019s fearful that other states might use federally trained intelligence troops in state-run intelligence operations unless the federal government makes an example out of Texas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou give intel soldiers enough tools \u2014 we\u2019re violating many constitutional rights very quickly,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The third was shaken by what he felt was a failure by Texas National Guard leaders to use its intelligence troops in a legal and effective manner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The service member said a Guardsman from the border intel directorate had volunteered to build a tool to track the Rio Grande\u2019s water flow and alert leaders when conditions were unsafe for migrants and soldiers alike, but it was deemed \u201cnot important.\u201d Spc. Bishop Evans, a 22-year-old Guard member from Arlington, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2022\/12\/16\/texas-national-guard-death-benefits-bishop-evans\/\">drowned trying to save two migrants<\/a> in April 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAnd that\u2019s the frustrating thing about this,\u201d he said. \u201cWe did all this shit, we broke all these rules. And for\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He trailed off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i><b>Correction,&nbsp;Aug. 30, 2023 at 4:49 p.m. EST:<\/b><\/i><i> In a previous version of this story, a helicopter was incorrectly identified in a photo caption as belonging to Customs and Border Protection. It is the property of the Texas Department of Public Safety.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An investigation by Military Times and The Texas Tribune charts the rise and fall of a military intelligence directorate gone rogue on the border.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":87630,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"single-post-featured-layout","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":69,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,23,12,25,69],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3347,5050],"class_list":["post-43059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-marine-corps"],"acf":{"subheadline":"Senior leaders allegedly ignored oversight officials\u2019 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