Global Courant 2023-05-18 05:21:45
The Massachusetts Air National Guardsman, accused of leaking a trove of military secrets, was reprimanded twice last year by his superiors for “appropriating actions” he took regarding classified information, federal prosecutors said in a lawsuit Wednesday.
Jack Teixeira was told by superiors in September and October to “stop taking notes in any form on classified intelligence information” and to “cease all deep dives into classified intelligence information,” prosecutors wrote in the file.
But even after being alerted, a superior discovered in February that Teixeira was reviewing classified materials unrelated to his primary duties, according to a Feb. 4 Air Force memo cited by prosecutors.
Wednesday’s indictment — which calls for Teixeira to be held behind bars until his trial — sheds further light on what prosecutors are learning as they investigate Teixeira’s actions leading to his arrest last month as the alleged source of the massive leak of secret national documents. defense information that has since spread across the internet.
Prosecutors wrote Wednesday that Teixeira had boasted in January about the vast amount of classified information he had access to, writing “there’s going to be a ton of information here…”, according to a message obtained from the online platform Discord, where Teixeira regularly posted. .
Another message, prosecutors argued, made clear Teixeira’s “tangible” desire to continue “obtaining and disclosing classified information.” According to Wednesday’s filing, he once wrote, “Man, how the hell is it, I can type all these s— and still be ready for more, but I can barely get through a two-page college paper.”
And not long after being warned by superiors, he acknowledged online what he was doing, writing in December that he “broken a bunch of (unauthorized disclosure) rules” but “Idgaf what they say I may or may not share”, according to the motion of the prosecution.
His pattern of behavior showed that “he will not be deterred by any restrictions this court may place on him and will not hesitate to circumvent those restrictions if he deems it in his best interests to do so,” prosecutors argued.
“It is clear that the dissemination of classified national defense information unlawfully posted by the defendant was even more widespread and diverse than previously known,” the prosecutors wrote. “It is also clear that the defendant publicly exalted himself about the breadth and sensitivity of the information he disclosed.”
An undated photo of Jack Teixeira, suspected of leaking classified documents.
Obtained by ABC News
Teixeira has not yet pleaded his allegations.
A native of Dighton, Massachusetts, he has been charged with the unauthorized preservation and disclosure of national defense information and the willful preservation of classified documents, which carry a combined maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.
He was arrested by the FBI on April 13 and is due to appear in court Friday afternoon, when a judge is expected to determine whether he should be detained.
Air Force memos describe previous problems
Wednesday’s motion from the government contains several memos documenting in real time Air Force officials over a period of months their problems with Teixeira’s behavior regarding classified information. But it appears the Air Force has done nothing to limit its access to such secrets.
A September 15 memo states that an official “was made aware that A1C Jack Teixeira of the 102 ISS had been sighted while taking notes on classified intelligence information … (and) pocketed the note.”
“A1C Teixeira has been instructed not to make any further notes on classified intelligence information in any form,” the memo continued.
A second memo, dated October 27, stated that “Teixeira may have ignored the cease-and-desist order while diving deep into intelligence information given on September 15, 22.”
That memo indicated that Teixeira was instructed to “continue deep diving into classified intelligence information and focus on his work as 1D.” (The Air Force has said Teixeira worked in Cyber Transport Systems.)
Portions of the September and October memos have been redacted, so it’s unclear if Teixeira was disciplined in either case, but he was “offered the chance to investigate cross-training…” and declined the opportunity.
A third memorandum, on Feb. 4, documented that on Jan. 30, Teixeira was observed on a “JWICS” machine, which refers to a secure common global intelligence communications system, “viewing content unrelated to his primary duty and related to the intelligence field.”
Clash over the suspect’s character
Teixeira’s defense team, for its part, has filed a motion in support of his provisional release, citing previous cases involving people accused of various crimes related to classified information and paroled prior to trial.
Teixeira’s public attorney Allen Franco has argued that even if the judge rules that he poses a risk of flight or obstruction, he should still be allowed to remain out of pre-trial detention in the care of his father or incarcerated in a house with the presence of his father, mother, stepfather, air force personnel or his lawyers.
Franco has suggested that Teixeira could face restrictions such as location surveillance, denying him access to the internet or contacting potential witnesses in the case and a bond that could be secured by both his parents’ homes.
Franco also argued that the government has provided “no evidence” that his client ever intended to “widely distribute” information shared within the Discord server.
Teixeira’s father testified at a hearing in April that he was willing to serve as third custodian if his son was released. But on Wednesday, prosecutors wrote that such an arrangement could not “reasonably” satisfy Teixeira’s continued conduct at trial or public safety.
Prosecutors and the defense have also put forward competing versions of Teixeira’s character. Franco, his lawyer, has argued in court documents against the government’s details of Texeira’s suspension during his sophomore year of high school over allegations that he made violent and racist threats.
The incident “was thoroughly investigated at the time,” Franco wrote, and Teixeira was allowed to return to school after a “handful” of days following a psychiatric evaluation.
Teixeira’s lawyer disputed that he would pose a flight risk by pointing out how, upon becoming aware of his impending arrest, Teixeira sat on his mother’s porch and read a Bible while he waited for police to arrive. (Teixeira also wore a long rosary necklace at a hearing in late April.)
However, in Wednesday’s filing, prosecutors wrote that their ongoing investigation had found evidence that “contradicts the defendant’s efforts to minimize his criminal conduct and undermines the defendant’s claim that he can be trusted to abide by the terms of release imposed by the court”.
Prosecutors rejected the defense’s “story” about Teixeira’s character.
“One of the behaviors that may contrast with what the defense claimed was the peaceful reading of the Bible by the defendant prior to his arrest, is a recent video now publicly published by The Washington Post,” they wrote. the accusers. “That video shows the defendant using racial and ethnic slurs as he fires at a target, ’empties the magazine of bullets’ and ends his statement with ‘I may dump’.”
Prosecutors further pointed to what they called “the significant amount of racist, anti-Semitic and violent rhetoric (Teixeira) posted online”.
In summary, they wrote, Teixeira’s “true nature” is “one of selfish deceit”.
ABC News’ Trevor Ault and Christopher Donato contributed to this report.
