Leak suspect shared classified secrets with foreigners, prosecutors say (2024)

The Air National Guard member accused in a high-profile classified leaks case appears to have shared sensitive secrets with foreign nationals and had raised concern among his co-workers in the months before he was charged with mishandling and disseminating national security information, prosecutors said in a court filing Wednesday.

Jack Teixeira, 21, was arrested in April after FBI agents traced back to him a collection of classified material posted in an online chat group. Authorities say Teixeira, who worked as an IT professional at a military base in Massachusetts’s Cape Cod, misused his top secret clearance to share U.S. intelligence assessments and other sensitive information with others on Discord, a social media platform popular with video game players.

He is scheduled to appear in court Friday where U.S. magistrate judge David Hennessy plans to rule on whether Teixeira should remain behind bars while awaiting trial. In their Wednesday court filing, prosecutors offered new evidence, “which compounds the national security and public safety risks that the government previously noted to the Court,” and shows, they said, that he should not be released.

Advertisement

One of the groups where he shared information had upward of 150 users, officials said, and among the members “are a number of individuals who represented that they resided in other countries” and whose accounts trace back to foreign internet addresses.

Teixeira’s “willful transmission of classified information over an extended period to more than 150 users worldwide” undermines his lawyer’s claims that he never meant for the information to be shared widely, prosecutors wrote.

Teixeira’s lawyer filed court papers arguing that prosecutors have wrongly compared his conduct to high-profile leak cases from the past, when the case is more similar to lesser-known leak investigations in which defendants were released on bond.

Alleged leaker fixated on guns and envisioned ‘race war’

The new filing also recounts online chats in which Teixeira appears to both brag about how much classified information he knows and has shared, and understand the potential legal consequences of such actions.

Advertisement

“Knowing what happens more than pretty much anyone is cool,” the airman allegedly wrote in a chat dated mid-November. When another user suggested he write a blog about the information, Teixeira replied, “making a blog would be the equivalent of what chelsea manning did,” referring to a major classified leak case in 2010.

The filing also shows that Teixeira was written up by colleagues for apparently not following rules for the use of classified systems. A Sept. 15 Air Force memorandum included in the newly released court materials notes that Teixeira “had been observed taking notes on classified intelligence information” inside a room specifically designed to handle sensitive classified material.

Teixeira, the Air Force memo says, was instructed “to no longer take notes in any form on classified intelligence information.” About a month later, a memo noted that Teixeira “was potentially ignoring the cease-and-desist order” given to him in September. He was instructed to stop “any deep dives into classified intelligence information and focus on his job,” that memo said.

Advertisement

Then in January, a member of his unit observed Teixeira “viewing content that was not related to his primary duty and was related to the intelligence field.” That memo also noted that Teixeira “had been previously notified to focus on his own career duties and to not seek out intelligence products.”

Skip to end of carousel

The Discord Leaks

Dozens of highly classified documents have been leaked online, revealing sensitive information intended for senior military and intelligence leaders. In an exclusive investigation, The Post also reviewed scores of additional secret documents, most of which have not been made public.

Who leaked the documents? Jack Teixeira, a young member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, was charged in the investigation into leaks of hundreds of pages of classified military intelligence. The Post reported that the individual who leaked the information shared documents with a small circle of online friends on the Discord chat platform.

What do the leaked documents reveal about Ukraine? The documents reveal profound concerns about the war’s trajectory and Kyiv’s capacity to wage a successful offensive against Russian forces. According to a Defense Intelligence Agency assessment among the leaked documents, “Negotiations to end the conflict are unlikely during 2023.”

What else do they show? The files include summaries of human intelligence on high-level conversations between world leaders, as well as information about advanced satellite technology the United States uses to spy. They also include intelligence on both allies and adversaries, including Iran and North Korea, as well as Britain, Canada, South Korea and Israel.

What happens now? The leak has far-reaching implications for the United States and its allies. In addition to the Justice Department investigation, officials in several countries said they were assessing the damage from the leaks.

1/5

End of carousel

A member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, Teixeira has been charged with two counts: retention and transmission of national defense information and willful retention of classified documents. He faces up to 25 years in prison. As the investigation proceeds, he could face additional charges.

Prosecutors and defense lawyers had sparred over whether Teixeira should be released on bond. Federal prosecutors said he posed a security risk because he might still possess classified documents that investigators have not yet found, and foreign governments could try to recruit him to find out what he knows.

Advertisement

Teixeira’s lawyer, Brendan Kelley, has said that with careful monitoring Teixeira could safely go home — arguing authorities have tried to make a young man who still lives with his parents in the community where he grew up sound more dangerous than he is.

Discord member details how documents leaked from closed chat group

Hennessy, the judge, had pushed back on suggestions from Teixeira’s attorney, who claimed his client only meant to share the information with a small group of online friends, not the wider world.

“The defendant put top-secret information on the internet, and your argument is that he had no idea that it would go anywhere beyond the server,” Hennessy said at a hearing last month. “I find it a little incredible that the defendant could not foresee that possibility.”

Teixeira’s father told the court last month that, if his son were released, he would notify authorities should any bond conditions be violated, and that there would be security cameras around the home to alert the father to any movement there while he was at work.

“The damage the Defendant has already caused to the U.S. national security is immense. The damage the Defendant is still capable of causing is extraordinary,” prosecutors wrote in an earlier court filing. “Detention is necessary to ensure that the Defendant does not continue on his destructive and damaging path.”

Advertisement

In their filings, prosecutors have said Teixeira exhibited disturbing behavior five years ago while a high school student, and was suspended after a classmate overheard him talking about weapons, “including Molotov cocktails, guns at the school, and racial threats.”

More recently, according to prosecutors, Teixeira posted comments online about conducting a mass shooting, including in November when he wrote in a social media post that if he had his way, he would “kill a … [expletive] ton of people,” which he said would be “culling the weak minded.” In previous court filings, prosecutors also shared photos of what they characterized as an “arsenal” of weapons found in his home.

Teixeira’s lawyer has said the talk of an arsenal was overheated — because the guns in court images that had been thought to be in his room are not real weapons, but replicas known as airsoft guns. The firearms in Teixeira’s house are locked away in a cabinet, according to Kelley.

Prosecutors say there also is evidence that, as the leak investigation progressed, Teixeira may have destroyed evidence of his crimes and told others not to talk to authorities. Earlier this month, Teixeira allegedly told an online friend: “If anyone comes looking, don’t tell them” anything, and encouraged that person to “delete all messages.”

Advertisement

Teixeira’s attorneys have pushed back against those claims, saying Teixeira was peacefully reading a Bible when agents came to arrest him, and that prosecutors’ notions of the risks to national security if he is released are far-fetched and fanciful.

The prosecution, Teixeira’s lawyer Allen Franco wrote in a court filing last month, has engaged in “hyperbolic judgments and provides little more than speculation that a foreign adversary will seduce Mr. Teixeira and orchestrate his clandestine escape from the United States. This argument is illusory. The government has presented no articulable facts to support these assertions.”

Leak suspect shared classified secrets with foreigners, prosecutors say (2024)

FAQs

What happened to the guy who leaked classified documents? ›

An Air National Guard member has pleaded guilty to posting dozens of classified documents online in one of highest-profile intelligence leaks in recent years. Prosecutors recommend that Jack Teixeira, 22, be sentenced to up to 16 years and eight months in prison.

How much time did Jack Teixeira get? ›

Jack Teixeira, 22, accepted a prison sentence of up to 16 years as part of his guilty plea to six counts of “willful retention and transmission of national defense information.” As part of the deal, the Justice Department will not pursue any further charges against him under the Espionage Act.

What was Jack Teixeira charged with? ›

The 22-year-old pleaded guilty to six counts of willful retention and transmission of classified information relating to national defense over a leak last year of a trove of classified records to a group of gamers on the messaging app Discord.

Where is Jack Teixeira now? ›

BOSTON - Jack Teixeira pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston Monday to leaking highly classified military documents about Russia's war in Ukraine and other national security secrets. He now faces 11 to more than 16 years in prison at his sentencing in the fall.

What is the death penalty for leaking classified information? ›

Upon conviction, violation of its provisions can lead to a prison sentence of any number of years up to life, a fine, or both. In certain circumstances, such as at a time of war, an offender can receive a death sentence.

Who was the soldier that leaked classified information? ›

Massachusetts Air National Guard member Jack Teixeira pleads guilty after classified documents leak | PBS News.

What is the Teixeira plea deal? ›

Teixeira has agreed to plead guilty to six counts of willful retention and transmission of classified information relating to the national defense (National Defense Information). “By knowingly and improperly posting classified national defense information on a social media platform, Mr.

What did Teixeira do? ›

In early April 2023, Teixeira was alleged by media to have regularly shared classified information in a server on the online chat service Discord called "Thug Shaker Central", beginning at least by October 2022, both transcribed from documents he read and from printouts removed from his office on base.

Where does the name Teixeira come from? ›

Teixeira ( European Portuguese: [tɐjˈʃɐjɾɐ], Galician: [tejˈʃejɾɐ]) is a Galician-Portuguese surname based on the toponym Teixeira, derived from teixo "yew tree" (Latin taxus).

Where was Jack Teixeira stationed? ›

Teixeira, who was part of the 102nd Intelligence Wing at Otis Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts, worked as a cyber transport systems specialist, essentially an information technology specialist responsible for military communications networks.

Is the Air Force preparing new charges for airman who leaked classified information on Discord? ›

The Air Force has charged Teixeira, an airman 1st class in the Massachusetts Air National Guard, with one count of disobeying a lawful order and two counts of obstructing justice under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, a service spokesperson said Wednesday.

Who was charged with espionage in the National Guard? ›

Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira agreed Monday that he caused one of the most extraordinary leaks of national defense secrets in years and agreed to accept a prison sentence of 16 years -- what could be the longest sentence in an unlawful retention case.

What is the National Air Guard leak? ›

The 102nd Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group was suspended in mid-April 2023 after Massachusetts Air National Guard member Jack Teixeira was arrested over leaking highly classified military documents about the war in Ukraine and other national security secrets.

Who is David Franklin Slater? ›

David Franklin Slater, 63, of Nebraska, a retired Army Lt. Col., was working at U.S. Strategic Command where over a three-month period, he allegedly transmitted secret information about the Ukraine war to a person on a foreign, online dating platform.

Who was the airman that leaked information? ›

Authorities said Teixeira, who enlisted in the Air National Guard in 2019, began sharing military secrets with other Discord users around January — first by typing out classified documents and then sharing photographs of files that bore "SECRET" and "TOP SECRET" markings.

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Recommended Articles
Article information

Author: Lidia Grady

Last Updated:

Views: 5969

Rating: 4.4 / 5 (45 voted)

Reviews: 84% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Lidia Grady

Birthday: 1992-01-22

Address: Suite 493 356 Dale Fall, New Wanda, RI 52485

Phone: +29914464387516

Job: Customer Engineer

Hobby: Cryptography, Writing, Dowsing, Stand-up comedy, Calligraphy, Web surfing, Ghost hunting

Introduction: My name is Lidia Grady, I am a thankful, fine, glamorous, lucky, lively, pleasant, shiny person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.