Jack Teixeira, Massachusetts Air National Guard member, charged in 'Top Secret' documents leak
BOSTON - Jack Teixeira, a Massachusetts Air National Guardsman arrested in the leak of highly classified military documents, was ordered to stay behind bars after appearing in a Boston federal courthouse Friday. He was formally charged under the Espionage Act with unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information and unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or material.
A federal magistrate judge ordered him jailed until at least a detention hearing set for next Wednesday.
Teixeira arrived in court, handcuffed and in tan jail clothes, ahead of his initial appearance. He sat at the defense table next to his lawyer. A family member sitting in the front row could be seen wiping away tears. His parents did not answer requests for comment outside the court.
The 21-year-old was arrested by heavily armed tactical agents in Dighton on Thursday following a weeklong criminal investigation into the disclosure of highly sensitive government records, an alarming breach that exposed to the world unvarnished secret assessments on the war in Ukraine, the capabilities and geopolitical interests of other nations and other top national security issues.
President Joe Biden weighed in on the arrest Friday.
"I commend the rapid action taken by law enforcement to investigate and respond to the recent dissemination of classified U.S. government documents," Biden said in a statement. "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 distribution of sensitive information, and our national security team is closely coordinating with our partners and allies."
I-Team sources said agents executed a search warrant in the Dighton home, looking for more evidence, anything from computers, cell phones, flash drives, tablets and physical documents. With a search warrant agents will be able to see everything in those devices including text messages, emails, Google searches, location data and GPS points.
Investigators believe Teixeira was the leader of an online private chat group on Discord, a social media platform popular with people playing online games. Billing records the FBI obtained from Discord, which has said it was cooperating with the bureau, helped lead investigators to Teixeira, according to an FBI affidavit unsealed Friday.
According to the document, the FBI interviewed someone familiar with Teixeira's online posts on Monday. That person, who is not identified in the affidavit, told the FBI that a username linked to Teixeira began posting what appeared to be classified information roughly in December.
Federal investigators say Teixeira worked at the Otis Air National Guard Base on Cape Cod as a cyber defense operations journeyman.
The criminal complaint says many of the posted documents were clearly marked "TOP SECRET."
Click here to read the criminal complaint
"As required for this position, TEIXEIRA holds a Top Secret security clearance, which was granted in 2021," an FBI special agent wrote in an affidavit. "Based on my training and experience, I know that to acquire his security clearance, TEIXEIRA would have signed a lifetime binding non-disclosure agreement in which he would have had to acknowledge that the unauthorized disclosure of protected information could result in criminal charges."
The affidavit suggests Teixeira switched from typing out documents in his possession to taking them home and photographing them because he "had become concerned that he may be discovered making the transcriptions of text in the workplace."
That's different from what posters have told The Associated Press and other media outlets, saying the user they would call "the O.G." started posting images of documents because he was annoyed other users weren't taking him seriously.
The affidavit also alleges Teixeira was detected on April 6 – the day The New York Times first published a story about the breach of documents – searching for the word "leak" in a classified system. The FBI says that was reason to believe Teixeira was trying to find information about the investigation into who was responsible for the leaks.
The Biden administration has scrambled to contain the potential diplomatic and military fallout from the leaks since they were first reported, moving to reassure allies and assess the scope of damage.
Read: Homeland security expert questions Jack Teixeira's access to classified documents
The classified documents — which have not been individually authenticated in public by U.S. officials — range from briefing slides mapping out Ukrainian military positions to assessments of international support for Ukraine and other sensitive topics, including under what circumstances Russian President Vladimir Putin might use nuclear weapons.
In previous Associated Press stories, the leaker was identified as "the O.G." by a member of the online chat group. Known as Thug Shaker Central, the group drew roughly two dozen enthusiasts who talked about their favorite types of guns and also shared memes and jokes. The group also held a running discussion on wars that included talk of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
In that discussion, "the O.G." would for months post material that he said was classified — originally typing it out with his own notations, then a few months ago switching to posting images of folded-up papers.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, in a statement issued after the arrest, said the Pentagon would conduct a review of its "intelligence access, accountability and control procedures" to prevent such a leak from happening again.
Dighton-Rehoboth Regional High School superintendent Bill Runey confirmed that Teixeira graduated in 2020.
"Let it be you know. This is America, keep us safe," said Priscilla Duarte who lives down the street from Teixeira. She and other neighbors were blocked from their homes while authorities closed the road to traffic during and after his arrest. She said the accusations are troubling. "You've got to do the right thing," Duarte said. "You've got to keep America safe."
