by The Air National guard accused of leaking classified documents poses an ongoing threat to national security because he “may still have access to a large amount of classified information” that would be valuable to hostile countries, federal prosecutors said in court documents released Wednesday by the night.
Prosecutors will urge a judge on Thursday to keep 21-year-old Jack Teixeira behind bars, arguing that he poses “a serious flight risk” and that a “foreign adversary” could try to help him escape the United States and give him a safe haven.
“The information to which the defendant had access, and accessed, far exceeds what has been publicly disclosed on the Internet to date,” the document says. The leaks “have the potential to cause additional exceptionally serious harm to the national security of the United States if disclosed.”
The 18-page memo said Teixeira had a history of making violent and racist comments, including social media posts about wanting to carry out a mass shooting while maintaining “an arsenal of weapons.” and tactical gear at his home, and trying to thwart federal investigators by apparently destroying evidence.
The filing comes ahead of a detention hearing Thursday in Massachusetts federal court. Teixeira, who has not pleaded guilty, has been in jail since his arrest earlier this month in a case that represents one of the biggest intelligence leaks in years. The saga has fueled global uproar and doubts about America’s ability to protect its secrets.
Prosecutors say in the court file that Teixeira:
- You present a continuing threat to national security because you still have access to classified documents that could harm the United States.
- You are a flight risk because a foreign adversary could help you flee the US and give you a safe haven.
- He made violent and racist comments, including posting online about wanting to carry out a mass shooting.
- He had a cache of guns, ammunition and tactical gear at his parents’ house where he lived in Massachusetts.
- He told other social media users to delete their posts in an apparent attempt to stymie investigators, who also found a broken laptop in his dumpster.
Teixeira has been accused of possessing classified documents related to national security and possessing national defense material. The charges could result in a prison sentence of 25 years “and potentially much longer,” the court filing said.
Teixeira’s lawyer refused after a hearing last week to speak to reporters.
“The damage that the defendant has already caused to the national security of the US is immense. The damage that the defendant is still capable of causing is extraordinary,” prosecutors wrote. “If the defendant were released, it would be too easy for him to continue disseminating classified information and would create the unacceptable risk that he would flee the United States and take refuge with a foreign adversary to avoid the reach of US law.”
Teixeira, an Airman 1st Class who was arrested April 13, was assigned to the 102nd Intelligence Wing at Otis Air National Guard Base, Massachusetts.
A cyber defense operations officer who was granted a top-secret security clearance in 2021 allegedly used the online forum Discord to share the leaked information with his small community of friends online and took photos of paper documents he could to have smuggled outside of a secure facility.
They reveal details of US spying on Russia’s war machine in Ukraine and secret assessments of Ukraine’s combat power, as well as intelligence on US allies, including South Korea and Israel.
The incident raised questions among Washington lawmakers about who has access to classified materials and security measures.
On Wednesday, the Air Force suspended the commander and a detachment commander at the 102 Intelligence Support Squadron, where Teixeira worked. And the Air Force last week halted the intelligence mission of the 102nd Intelligence Wing while the service’s inspector general investigates.
The document released Wednesday night said Teixeira had had “detailed and troubling discussions about violence and murder,” including social media posts about wanting to carry out a shooting in a public area. He told another user that he wanted to turn a vehicle into a ‘killer van’, while in another post he said that he wanted to ‘kill a [expletive] tons of people” as a way to “eliminate the weak-minded,” he said.
Teixeira also used his government computer to look up information on previous mass shootings, including “Uvalde” and “Mandalay Bay Shooting,” according to the document. Media reports have suggested that these searches may have been related to Teixeira’s belief in conspiracy theories that the government had prior knowledge of these shootings, he added. But prosecutors said that, along with his social media posts and the weapons cache, these searches were “troubling.”
Teixeira lives at the home of his mother and stepfather in North Dighton, Massachusetts, and in his bedroom he keeps a locker full of handguns, bolt-action rifles, shotguns and an AK-style high-capacity weapon, prosecutors said.
His “arsenal of weapons” also included a bazooka and a “silencer-style accessory,” according to investigators, who found a tactical helmet with a GoPro camera and mount in the dumpster outside, according to the file.
Also in the dumpster, special agents found a vandalized laptop, tablet and Xbox game console, which “appeared to be calculated to delay or prevent the government from gaining a full understanding of the seriousness and scale of its conduct.” ”, says the presentation. Teixeira also sent messages to others on social media saying, “delete all messages” and if “someone comes looking, don’t give them shit,” she added.
His legal team has indicated that he wants him released to his father’s house, his secondary residence, according to the filing. “Even if defendant’s devices are removed from his father’s home, his father certainly cannot be expected to spend every moment monitoring his son’s access to electronic devices,” he said, adding that his computer background would even more difficult to monitor.
Teixeira was suspended from high school in 2018 for making comments about Molotov cocktails, weapons and racial threats, comments he later attributed to him talking about a video game, the document says.
Those comments led to his application for firearms identification being denied the same year, he said. He reapplied for him in November 2020 and said in his application letter that he had since “grown as a person” and that he intended to be an “outstanding aviator” and “upstanding citizen.” “.
Last week, a judge granted a request by the defendant’s legal team to delay the hearing so they could have more time to address the prosecutors’ case.
