The US wants to take Jack Teixeira as an example and send a message to others who have access to classified material and are at risk of disclosing it to third parties. But first and foremost, they want to re-evaluate who has access to that information. The 21-year-old military man, who will be the grandson of the Azores, was present in court for the first time this Friday in Boston, charged with two crimes under the espionage law carrying a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. He will remain in custody until his next questioning on Wednesday.
Teixeira is an information and communications technology specialist for the Massachusetts Air National Guard and therefore has access to classified information. Was the administrator of the closed group on Discord (a social network mainly used by gamers) where secret documents about the war in Ukraine were published, and it is not yet clear how they reached other networks.
Arrested Thursday at his mother’s home in Dighton, Massachusetts, he was charged this Friday with “unauthorized retention and disclosure of national defense information” and “unauthorized removal and retention of documents or classified materials.” For the first he could be sentenced to a maximum of ten years in prison and for the second to five years.
In a statement, US President Joe Biden praised the “quick action” of security forces investigating the information leak. “While we are still determining the validity of these documents, I have directed our military and intelligence agencies to take steps to further protect and limit the dissemination of sensitive information.”, indicated. According to calculations by the American press, thousands of people will have access to this information.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland assured he intends to “send a message” with the case, pointing out that anyone with access to classified information “recognizes how important it is to national security not to make these documents public.” to make”. Speaking at a press conference, he stressed that this leak is “not just about taking documents home,” but about distributing them. And he made it clear that “there are very heavy penalties attached to this.”
Teixeira did not have to plead guilty or not guilty in court. In the brief audience, one of the family members in the front row said to him, “I love you Jack,” and he replied, “I love you too, Daddy.” Teixeira is of Portuguese descent, the grandson of Azorean parents, according to the president of the House of the Azores in Fall River, Massachusetts, Francisco Viveiros. But he is not registered with a Portuguese consulate, so he will not have dual citizenship, said the Secretary of State for Portuguese Communities, Paulo Cafôfo.
Source: DN
