Global Courant 2023-04-27 14:07:48
The Air National guard accused of leaking classified documents poses an ongoing threat to national security because he “may still have access to a wealth of classified information” that could be valuable to enemy nations, federal prosecutors said in lawsuits released Wednesday night.
Prosecutors will urge a judge on Thursday to keep Jack Teixeira, 21, behind bars, arguing he poses “a serious flight risk” and that a “foreign adversary” could try to help him escape the United States and provide him with a safe haven.
“The information to which the defendant had — and has had — access goes far beyond what has hitherto been made public on the Internet,” the document said. The leaks “have the capacity to inflict additional exceptionally serious damage to US national security if disclosed.”
The 18-page memo said Teixeira had a history of making violent and racist remarks, including posting to social media about wanting to carry out a mass shooting, keeping guns and tactical gear in his home, and trying to get federal to thwart detectives by apparently destroying evidence. .
The filing comes ahead of a detention hearing Thursday in Massachusetts federal court. Teixeira, who has not entered a plea, has been in jail since his arrest earlier this month in a case that represents one of the most significant intelligence leaks in years. The saga has sparked global uproar and doubts about America’s ability to guard its secrets.
Prosecutors say in the lawsuit that Teixeira:
Poses an ongoing threat to national security as he continues to have access to classified documents that could harm the United States. Poses a flight risk because a foreign adversary can help him flee the US and provide him with a safe haven. Made violent and racist comments, including posting messages online about wanting to carry out a mass shooting. Kept a stash of guns, ammunition, and tactical gear at his parents’ home, where he lived in Massachusetts. Told other social media users to delete their posts in an apparent attempt to interfere with investigators, who also found a broken laptop in his dumpster.
Teixeira has been charged with possession of secret documents related to national security and possession of national defense equipment. The charges could lead to up to 25 years in prison “and possibly much more,” the court said.
Teixeira’s lawyer declined to speak to reporters after a hearing last week.
“The damage that the defendant has already done to American national security is immense. The damage the suspect is still able to inflict is extraordinary,” the prosecutors wrote. “If the defendant were released, it would be all too easy for him to spread classified information further and there would be the unacceptable risk that he would flee the United States and seek refuge with a foreign adversary to expand its scope. of US law.”
Teixeira, a first class aviator who was arrested on April 13, was assigned to the 102nd Intelligence Wing at Otis Air National Guard Base, Massachusetts.
A journeyman of cyber defense operations was granted a top secret security clearance in 2021. He allegedly used the online forum Discord to share the leaked information with his small community of online friends and took pictures of paper documents he may have smuggled. from a secure facility.
They reveal details of US spying on the Russian war machine in Ukraine and secret assessments of Ukraine’s combat power, as well as information on America’s allies, including South Korea and Israel.
The incident has raised questions among Washington lawmakers about who has access to classified material and about safeguards.
The Air Force on Wednesday suspended the commander and a detachment commander in the 102nd Intelligence Support Squadron, where Teixeira worked. And the Air Force halted the intelligence mission of the 102nd Intelligence Wing last week while the agency’s inspector general investigates.
The document released late Wednesday said Teixeira had “detailed and disturbing discussions of violence and murder,” including social media posts about wanting to carry out a shooting in a public space. He told another user he wanted to convert a vehicle into a “murder bus,” while in another post he said he wanted to “kill an (expletive) ton of people” as a way to “clear the feeble-minded.”
Teixeira lives at his mother and stepfather’s home in North Dighton, Massachusetts, and keeps a gun locker in his bedroom stocked with handguns, bolt action rifles, shotguns, a high-capacity AK weapon and a gas mask, prosecutors said. The FBI also found ammunition and a “silencer-style accessory” in the room, as well as a tactical helmet with a GoPro camera and mount in the dumpster outside, according to the filing.
Also in the dumpster, special agents found a smashed laptop, tablet and Xbox game console, which “appear calculated to delay or prevent the government from fully understanding the seriousness and extent of its conduct,” the filing said. Teixeira also sent messages to others on social media, saying “delete all posts” and if “someone comes to watch, don’t tell them anything,” it added.
Teixeira was suspended from high school in 2018 for making comments about Molotov cocktails, guns and racial threats, comments he later attributed to talking about a video game, the document said.
Michael Kosnar contributed.
