Jack Teixeira to appear in court in connection to Pentagon classified documents leak
Rachel Schilke
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Jack Teixeira will appear in court in Massachusetts on Friday in connection to the leak of hundreds of classified documents from the Pentagon.
The 21-year-old Air National Guardsman will appear in a Boston federal courtroom on Friday. He was arrested by the FBI on Thursday for the “alleged unauthorized removal, retention, and transmission of classified national defense information,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said.
FBI ARRESTS JACK TEIXEIRA, AIR NATIONAL GUARDSMAN LINKED TO PENTAGON CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS LEAK
Teixeira works as a cyber transport systems journeyman who ensures the Air Force’s “vast, global communications network” is operating correctly. He’s an airman 1st class, which is the third enlisted rank an airman will make, and he has one achievement medal during his time in the service, according to an Air Force spokeswoman.
He was recently stationed at Otis Air National Guard Base in Cape Cod and was promoted to airman 1st class in July. He was arrested on Thursday afternoon in Dighton, Massachusetts, without incident by the FBI and is expected to arrive in court between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Friday.
Teixeira is accused of releasing hundreds of classified documents in an invite-only chat on Discord, a messaging platform. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he was made aware of the leaked documents on April 6 and has convened military officials for daily updates since April 7, but the leaks could date back to as early as January.
A number of the Pentagon documents suggested U.S. intelligence penetrated the highest levels of the Russian military, including information from the Russian Defense Ministry outlining attacks against two separate Ukrainian troop positions.
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Former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East Mick Mulroy criticized Teixeira’s alleged leak for threatening national security by undermining the country’s collection of intelligence.
“It is bad enough that our adversaries know what we know, or at least in part,” Mulroy told the Washington Examiner. “It is really bad if our adversaries know how we know it. That goes to our sources and methods. They will review what documents are out there and use that to launch their own counterintelligence operations.”