Massachusetts Air National Guard member Jack Teixeira charged with inappropriately disclosing classified information today challenged his remand in custody in the Donald Trump case.
The former president and other defendants in a case involving documents with a maximum security rating are awaiting trial in freedom.
The judge who ruled in May that Teixeira, 21, should remain in custody understood that his release could cause him to leave the country or obstruct justice.
Teixeira’s lawyers now intend to reverse this decision.
In their appeal, the lawyers argued that Teixeira does not have the financial capacity or incentive to flee and argued that the government “more than exaggerates the risk he poses to national security”.
On the other hand, they pointed to the fact that prosecutors did not want to detain Trump nor another accused – Walt Nauta – even though the former president and his aide have “extraordinary means to leave the US”.
As they stated, “former President Trump and the Trump Organization own properties in several countries and former President Trump has access to a private jet. A request for the passport to be issued”.
Teixeira’s lawyers wrote that “the differentiated approach” in these cases, both based on the Espionage Act, shows that “the argument [do governo] because Teixeira’s arrest is an illusion”.
In June, Jack Teixeira pleaded “not guilty” to six charges of illegally possessing and passing on national defense information, each punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Teixeira has been in prison since his arrest in April. His lawyers have suggested that he should be released, entrusted to his father and confined at home, with location surveillance and no internet access.
Teixeira is accused of sharing classified military documents about the Russian invasion of Ukraine and other sensitive national security topics on Discord, a social media platform popular with video gamers.
Source: DN
