Global Courant 2023-04-14 22:27:04
The suspect charged with leaking U.S. military intelligence documents searched classified intelligence reports for the word “leak” after the story broke.
Jack Teixeira, the 21-year-old Massachusetts Air National Guardsman, accused of leaking documents that the Department of Defense says contain “sensitive and top secret material,” was charged Friday with the unauthorized retention and disclosure of national defense information and the deliberate retention of classified documents.
PENTAGON LEAK SUSPECTED JACK TEIXEIRA SUGGESTED IN FEDERAL COURT, TELLS DADDY ‘I LOVE YOU’
Selfie of Jack Teixeira, the 21-year-old National Guard aviator accused of leaking classified information. (Facebook)
According to an FBI statement, Teixeira used his government computer to search for the word “leak” not long after news of the revelations first broke.
“According to a second U.S. government agency, which can track certain searches on its secret networks, on April 6, 2023, TEIXEIRA used its government computer to search classified intelligence reports for the word ‘leak,'” the affidavit reads. “The first public reporting regarding government information appeared on or around April 6, 2023.”
Teixeira was seeking classified reports on intelligence agencies’ assessment of the leaker’s identity, the FBI said.
JACK TEIXEIRA CERTIFIED IN PENTAGON LEAK RESEARCH: READ THE DOCUMENTS
Relatives of Jack Teixeira leave John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse after his arraignment on April 14, 2023 in Boston. (Scott Eisen/Getty Images)
A criminal indictment obtained by Fox News on Friday says the FBI on Monday interviewed a member of a social media platform who told a special agent that a person — later identified as Teixeira — began posting to the platform “what appeared to be classified information” beginning in December 2022.
The messages, the person said, appeared on a group aimed at discussing “geopolitical matters and current and historic wars.”
WHO IS JACK TEIXEIRA, THE AIR NATIONAL GUARDSMEN WHO ARE BEHIND BEHIND LEAKED CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS?
Aerial photo of the arrest of Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira by FBI agents for allegedly leaking classified material. (Fox news)
FBI ARRESTS MASSACHUSETTS AIR NATIONAL GUARDSMAN JACK TEIXEIRA IN PROBE OF CLASSIFIED DOCUMENT LEAKS
Media outside John Joseph Moakley’s U.S. Courthouse ahead of Jack Teixeira’s April 14, 2023 arraignment in Boston. (Scott Eisen/Getty Images)
Teixeira, who was handcuffed and wearing a khaki prison suit, was read out shortly after 10 a.m. local time Friday during an appearance in federal court in Boston.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, he did not enter a plea and was ordered to be held pending a detention hearing scheduled for Wednesday, April 19.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Relatives of Jack Teixeira leave the John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse in Boston on April 14, 2023. (JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)
The federal courthouse appearance comes after Teixeira was taken into custody by the FBI Thursday at his home in North Dighton, Massachusetts.
President Biden said on Friday that he has directed military and intelligence agencies “to take steps to further secure and limit the dissemination of sensitive information, and our national security team is working closely with our partners and allies.”
Fox News’ Greg Norman and Marta Dhanis contributed to this report.
Timothy Nerozzi is a writer for Fox News Digital. You can follow him on Twitter @timothynerozzi and email him at [email protected]
