The descendant of Portuguese Jack Teixeira was accused this Friday of “withholding and unauthorized transmission” of classified documents of the government of the United States of America.
The 21-year-old US National Guard appeared in federal court in Boston after a week-long investigation into one of the most damaging leaks of secrets since the 2013 release of National Security Agency documents by part of Edward Snowden.
In a brief hearing, the Portuguese descendant was charged with “unauthorized withholding and transmission of national defense information” as well as “unauthorized removal and withholding of classified documents or material.”
Teixeira was not required to testify about his possible guilt.
The defendant limited himself to responding calmly when the judge informed him of his rights, according to the Spanish news agency EFE.
At one point during the hearing, a man yelled “I love you, Jack” from the back of the room, to which the suspect replied without turning around: “I love you too, dad,” added EFE.
A federal magistrate ordered that he remain in custody until at least the arrest hearing, scheduled for next Wednesday, April 19.
The authorities have not yet released the reasons for the revelation perpetrated by Jack Teixeira.
Jack Teixeira is considered by the US authorities as the main suspect in the leak of highly confidential military documents on the war in Ukraine, after being arrested on Thursday.
FBI investigators believe that this military information specialist was the administrator of a group on social networks where the documents began to be released last week.
The security breach revealed US concerns about Ukraine’s military weaknesses and pointed out that the US was spying on its allies, including Israel and South Korea.
The New York Times reported that Jack Teixeira was the leader of the group called Thug Shaker Central.
He first wrote the contents of the documents to share with the group, but then began taking photos and told other members not to share them, according to the Washington Post.
Some of the documents later appeared on other sites, including Twitter, 4Chan and Telegram.
Source: TSF
