Global Courant 2023-04-14 22:26:36
The 21-year-old arrested in connection with the investigation into leaked documents has been charged with unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information and deliberate retention of classified documents, which carry a combined maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.
Jack Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts Air Force National Guard, made his first appearance Friday morning before a federal magistrate in Boston.
An undated photo of Jack Teixeira, suspected of leaking classified documents.
Obtained by ABC News
Teixeira walked into court wearing a beige smock and trousers with a black T-shirt underneath. He entered in handcuffs, which were removed before sitting at the defense table with his lawyer. Teixeira seemed to scan the crowd for a moment as he sat in his seat.
Jack Douglas Teixeira, a U.S. Air Force National Guard pilot accused of leaking top-secret military intelligence data online, will first appear before a Boston federal judge in a courtroom sketch on April 14, 2023.
Margaret Small/Reuters
Three people sat on a bench in the front row, reserved for relatives of the defendant.
As Teixeira was handcuffed again and led off court, someone in the front row shouted, “I love you, Jack.” The 21-year-old replied, “I love you too, Dad.”
Relatives of Jack Teixeira leave John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse after his arraignment on April 14, 2023 in Boston. Teixeria, a Massachusetts Air National Guardsman, was charged with two counts: the unauthorized retention and disclosure of national defense information and the unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or materials.
Scott Eisen/Getty Images
Assistant US attorney Nadine Pellegrini applied for remand, which was granted pending the outcome of a hearing on Wednesday.
Teixeira was taken into custody Thursday in Massachusetts “in connection with an investigation into alleged unauthorized removal, preservation and transfer of classified national defense information,” Attorney General Merrick Garland announced.
Media reports have described that the US intelligence documents – which appear to contain top secret information about the war in Ukraine and other parts of the world – were shared with a small group of users on Discord before they became more widely known.
Jack Teixeira, the suspected leaker of classified documents and the US National Guard, is taken into custody by FBI agents in North Dighton, Mass. April 13, 2023.
WCVB
The criminal indictment alleges that Teixeira “kept and passed on inappropriate and unlawful national defense information to people who are not authorized to receive it.”
On Monday, the FBI interviewed an unidentified member of the Discord chat room where Teixeira allegedly posted classified documents, according to the indictment documents. That individual provided the FBI with information that the alleged leaker’s name was “Jack,” appeared to live in Massachusetts, and had claimed to be a member of the Air National Guard. He also said he talked to him on video and that the suspect was “a white male who was well-groomed and was between 20 and 30 years old,” according to the indictment documents.
While Discord is not named, the complaint indicates that the platform helped the FBI by providing the credentials behind the account associated with the leak.
According to the complaint, Teixeira viewed a government document on Feb. 23 and posted it the following day. It is the disclosure of that document that forms the basis of the initial cost.
President Joe Biden said in a statement Friday that he praised “the swift action by law enforcement officials to investigate and respond to the recent distribution of classified U.S. government documents.”
“While we are still determining the validity of those documents, I have directed our military and intelligence community 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,” he said. Biden. .
ABC News’ Emily Shapiro and Ben Gittleson contributed to this report.
