The Justice Department on Wednesday argued that Jack Teixeira—the Air National Guardsman accused of leaking classified military and intelligence documents—is a serious flight risk who may still be hiding classified data, and urged a federal court to ensure he remains in detention while facing trial.
Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira is set to appear before a federal court for his detention ... [+]
The 21-year-old airman is set to appear before the court on Thursday for his detention hearing, two weeks after the FBI arrested him for allegedly leaking a trove of military secrets on the instant messaging platform Discord.
In a motion for detention filed with the U.S. federal court in Massachusetts, the DOJ says Teixeira “poses a serious flight risk” as the evidence against him is substantial and he potentially faces more than 25 years in prison.
The filing warns that Teixeira may still be in possession of more classified information that may prompt a hostile foreign nation to offer him safe harbor and facilitate his escape from the U.S.
The DOJ accuses Teixeira of trying to obstruct the investigation by taking multiple steps to destroy evidence—including asking members of his Discord chat group to delete all messages, destroying his own electronic devices and throwing them in a dumpster.
The prosecutors also argue Teixeira poses a threat to U.S. national security, as all the documents accessed by him have not been made public yet.
“Any promise by the Defendant to stay home or to refrain from compounding the harm that he has already caused is worth no more than his broken promises to protect classified national defense information,” the filing adds.
Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, was arrested by the FBI earlier this month in North Dighton, a town in southeastern Massachusetts. The 21-year-old airman worked as a systems administrator in the 102nd Intelligence Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard. Teixeira allegedly shared large sets of secret documents on an online chat server made up primarily of teenagers called “Thug Shaker Central.” The server hosted on Discord—an instant messaging and voice chat app popular with gamers—was primarily used to share racist memes and video games. However, the Washington Post reported that it featured several foreign nationals, including Russian and Ukrainian citizens. Although the documents leaked by Teixeira were only intended for the invite-only server, they were eventually shared on other servers and quickly found their way onto other social media platforms including Telegram—which is frequented by Russian and Ukrainian users.
The leaked documents in question contained detailed assessments of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and included concerns about the present state of the Ukrainian military and the purported effectiveness of its planned Spring counteroffensive. The documents also highlighted the large number of casualties suffered by the Russians in their invasion. In addition to this, the leaks also contained sensitive briefings about various foreign powers, including Canada, China, Israel, South Korea and others. The leaks have become a major diplomatic headache for the Biden administration, which has been forced to tend to frayed relations with allies.
Accused Pentagon leaker Jack Teixeira should be detained before trial, Justice Dept. argues (CBS News)
21-Year-Old Airman Jack Teixeira Arrested For Ukraine Document Leak (Forbes)