Jack Teixeira, the US serviceman suspected of leaking classified US documents, was formally charged this Thursday with passing on national defense information and extracting classified data.
The Justice Department said in a statement that Teixeira, a 21-year-old Portuguese descendant who was a member of the National Guard, faces six charges of “deliberate retention and transfer of classified information related to national defense”.
“Jack Teixeira has been granted access by the United States government to classified national defense information, including information that could be extremely damaging to national security if shared,” said U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, quoted in the press release.
The suspect arrested in April is accused of distributing confidential defense documents in a discussion forum on the social network Discord, namely about the war in Ukraine or spying on allied countries, leaks that embarrassed Washington.
Last month, a judge ordered Teixeira to remain in custody pending trial, alleging that releasing the soldier would pose a risk of flight or obstruction of justice.
Jack Teixeira’s family expressed support for the young soldier and his lawyers pressed the judge for his release, arguing that he had no criminal record.
Merrick Garland also stressed that Jack Teixeira shared the information with users who “knew they had no right to receive it.”
“In doing so, he violated US law and endangered national security,” he recalled.
Massachusetts Attorney General Joshua Levy recalled that people who have access to classified material have a duty to protect that information.
Teixeira joined the National Guard in September 2019 and has had access to top secret information since 2021.
The Department of Justice estimates that Teixeira began storing and sharing confidential data in January 2022, distributing the information in two ways: in writing through that platform, or with images of the documents displaying the classification of secrecy or top secret .
Each count of withholding and unauthorized disclosure of national defense information carries a prison sentence of up to ten years, probation of up to three years and a fine of up to $250,000.
The Justice Department specified that a federal judge will determine the sentence, adding that the United States Federal Police (FBI) is still investigating the case.
Some analysts have compared the potential impact of this information leak to that of Edward Snowden in 2013 when he exposed the scope of massive espionage programs launched by the United States after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Source: DN
