In a court hearing in Boston, the US airman accused of leaking classified intelligence and defense documents was officially charged.
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| Image Source - Google | Image by <br><a href BBC News |
By Mehran Mazari
Jack Teixeira, 21, stood before a federal judge wearing shackles and a prison uniform.
Following a yell from the audience of "Love you, Jack," the defendant responded, "You too, Dad."
Mr. Teixeira faces up to 15 years in prison on charges of transmitting defense secrets without authorization.
He is also accused of illegally removing and retaining confidential materials.
For the first charge, the airman faces up to ten years in prison, and for the second, he faces up to five years in prison.
Hundreds of released documents showed US views of the Ukrainian war as well as sensitive information about American partners.
The disclosures humiliated Washington and created new concerns about the security of confidential information.
On Thursday, armed FBI officers arrested Mr. Teixeira at his family's home in Massachusetts.
The judge concluded that the suspect is eligible for a public defender, which is a lawyer who is paid by the government to represent persons who cannot afford legal expenses in a criminal prosecution.
Mr. Teixeira remains in detention until his detention trial on April 19th. US prosecutors have requested that he be held in custody until his trial at a later date.
According to CBS, a man in the courtroom shouted "Love you, Jack" as the session ended.
According to a CNN reporter inside the courtroom, Mr. Teixeira did not glance back but said, "You too, Dad."
In a statement, US President Joe Biden congratulated law enforcement for their "rapid action" in investigating the source of the leaks. He stated that he has asked the US military and intelligence agencies to protect and limit the sharing of any additional sensitive information.
'Top secret clearance'
The leaked intelligence material originally appeared in a Discord chat group purportedly administrated by Mr. Teixeira, where users would frequently debate international matters and wars.
According to the affidavit presented to the court by FBI Special Agent Patrick Lueckenhoff, the suspect began disseminating the leaked information in December.
According to the affidavit, the early disclosures were in the form of paragraphs of text, but Mr. Teixeira subsequently began sharing images of documents in January.
It wasn't until intelligence material was shared outside of the chat room group that Pentagon officials realized there had been a leak, initiating a manhunt for the perpetrator.
Mr. Teixeira served as an IT specialist in the Massachusetts National Guard's intelligence wing, stationed at Otis Air National Guard Base in western Cape Cod.
The National Guard is the United States Air Force's reserve wing. They are not full-time military personnel but can be deployed as needed.
According to the criminal charge filed in Boston court, Mr. Teixeira's official title was cyber defense operations journeyman. He was an Airman 1st Class, a somewhat junior job.
According to the affidavit, Mr. Teixeira has had a "top secret" security clearance since 2021 and would have "signed a lifetime binding non-disclosure agreement" to take up his post.
Mr. Luekenoff went on to say that the suspect "would have had to acknowledge that unauthorized disclosure of protected information could result in criminal charges."
According to the affidavit, Mr. Teixeira used his government computer to search secret intelligence reports for the phrase "leak" on April 6, the day public news on the papers first surfaced.
Prosecutors claimed that Mr. Teixeira looked up the keyword to see if US intelligence had any information on the name of the person responsible for the leaks.
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