Pentagon document leak suspect Jack Teixeira appears in court
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The suspect arrested in the leaking of classified US documents online, 21-year-old Jack Teixeira, was charged in federal court on Friday in Boston.
Here’s everything we know so far.
The charges include:
- unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information
- unauthorized removal of classified information and defense materials
About the suspect: Teixeira, a member of Massachusetts Air National Guard, was arrested on Thursday in North Dighton, Massachusetts, by FBI agents.
His official job is Cyber Transport Systems journeyman. According to the Air Force, Cyber Transport Systems specialists are tasked with making sure the service’s “vast, global communications network” is operating correctly.
He is believed to be the head of an obscure invite-only Discord chatroom called Thug Shaker Central, multiple US officials told CNN, where information from the classified documents was first posted months ago.
Several former high school classmates told CNN that he had a fascination with the military, guns and war.
Teixeira’s access: According to charging documents, Teixeira held a top secret security clearance and allegedly began posting information about the documents online around December 2022, and photos of documents in January.
He was assigned to the 102nd Intelligence Wing, which is a “24/7 operational mission” that takes in intelligence from various sources and packages it for some of the most senior military leaders around the globe, according to a defense official. Teixeira’s job was not to be the one packaging the intelligence for those senior commanders, but rather to work on the network on which that highly classified intelligence lived.
He was concerned about getting caught transcribing documents at work, so he started taking them home, a member of his online chat group told the FBI, according to court documents. According to investigators, a US government agency found that he also had searched for the word “leak” on his government-issued computer prior to his arrest.
What’s next: The judge scheduled a detention hearing for Teixeira on Wednesday. He will remain detained until then. Teixeira did not enter a formal plea.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy tweeted that the House of Representatives will investigate the trove of leaked classified documents. “The Biden administration has failed to secure classified information. Through our committees, Congress will get answers as to why they were asleep at the switch,” he said.