Jack Teixeira faces years in prison if convicted of charges related to his dubious connection to the revelations Dozens of secret documents which disclosed sensitive intelligence and defense information.
Her is 21-year-old Airman Teixeira of the Massachusetts Air National Guard First court appearance Friday when he faces charges of unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information and unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents.
What do we know about Teixeira so far?
According to federal court filings, Teixeira joined the Massachusetts Air National Guard in September 2019. He was granted a top secret security clearance in 2021, according to an affidavit filed by an FBI special agent. According to the affidavit, Teixeira maintained sensitive compartmentalized access, or “SCI,” to other highly classified programs.
As of May 2022, he has been serving as an E-3 Airman First Class stationed at Otis Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts, according to court documents.
Dighton-Rehoboth Regional High School Superintendent Bill Rooney confirmed Teixeira will graduate in 2020, CBS Boston Report.
What did prosecutors allege Teixeira did with access to that clearance?
A highly sensitive government document posted on a social media platform was accessible to Teixeira because of his work for the Air National Guard, the affidavit said. According to a US federal agency that has access to logs of the documents he accessed, the 21-year-old accessed a government document in February 2023, about a day before an acquaintance of Teixeira reposted the information on the Internet, according to the affidavit.
That contact told the FBI that the information he reposted was originally posted on a server by a person the FBI believed to be Teixeira. The FBI affidavit even said Teixeira used his government computer to search classified intelligence reports for the word “leaked.”
via social media website/Reuters
President Joe Biden highlighted the arrests on Friday.
“I appreciate the swift action taken by law enforcement to investigate and respond to the recent declassification of US government documents,” Biden said in a statement. “While we are still determining the validity of those documents, I have directed our military and intelligence communities to take steps to further secure and limit the distribution of sensitive information, and our national security team is coordinating closely with our partners and allies.”
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Catherine Watson
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