Jack Teixeira charged under Espionage Act in connection to Pentagon classified documents leak
Rachel Schilke
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Jack Teixeira appeared in court in Massachusetts on Friday and was charged in connection to the leak of hundreds of classified documents from the Pentagon.
The 21-year-old Air National Guardsman was arrested by the FBI on Thursday. He was arraigned in a Boston federal courtroom on Friday and charged under the Espionage Act with unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information, as well as unauthorized removal of classified information and defense materials.
FBI ARRESTS JACK TEIXEIRA, AIR NATIONAL GUARDSMAN LINKED TO PENTAGON CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS LEAK
U.S. Magistrate Judge David Hennesy ordered Teixeira to be held pending a hearing next week.
Investigators submitted an affidavit stating that Teixeira started sharing classified information as early as December.
Teixeira worked as a cyber transport systems journeyman who ensured the Air Force’s “vast, global communications network” was operating correctly. He is an airman 1st class, which is the third enlisted rank an airman will make, and he had 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, Massachusetts, and was promoted to airman 1st class in July. He was arrested on Thursday afternoon in Dighton, Massachusetts, without incident by the FBI and arrived in court midmorning 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.
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.”