Does not enter plea and is detained as Biden administration faces questions over how he got hands on nation secrets
- Jack Teixeira, 21, has appeared in court in Boston after his arrest on Thursday
- He has been charged for leaking classified documents
- The National Guard member posted secret intelligence in an online chat room
Jack Teixeira has appeared in court in Boston to be charged with leaking classified information and military secrets.
Fresh questions are being asked as to how the 21-year-old, accused of being behind the humiliating security breach, got clearance to access sensitive documents.
Teixeira, wearing handcuffs and a khaki prison jumpsuit, was read the charges shortly after 10 a.m. local time at a Massachusetts federal court.
His father shouted at him during the short appearance before judges: ‘I love you, Jack!’
He responded: ‘I love you, Dad.’
Teixeira then only spoke on two further occasions, answering ‘yes’ twice when asked if he understood his right to remain silent.
The National Guard member did not enter a plea, but judges ordered that he should remain in detention until next week.
Teixeira’s next hearing has been set for Wednesday, April 19, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts said in a statement.
The leak is the most embarrassing for the US since the WikiLeaks scandal in 2013 when National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden passed on confidential documents.
Jack Douglas Teixeira, a 21-year-old member of the U.S. Air National Guard who was arrested by the FBI over his alleged involvement in leaks online of classified documents, poses for a selfie at an unidentified location
According to the charge sheet, Teixeira received top security clearance in 2021 as a member of the National Guard.
The document, filed by the US government, quotes FBI special agent Patrick Lueckenhoff as saying Teixeira would have ‘signed a lifetime binding non-disclosure agreement.’
He adds the suspect ‘would have had to acknowledge that the unauthorized disclosure of protected information could result in criminal charges.’
Teixeira posted a slew of of highly classified military documents that touched upon the Ukraine war and other national security issues.
FBI investigators arrested him at his mother’s home in Dighton, Massachusetts on Thursday before bundling the 21-year-old into the back of a police van.
Teixeira posted the treasure trove of top secret files under his online user name ‘Jack the Dripper’ for months before the leak was uncovered.
He worked as a junior cyber security specialist in the intelligence unit based at the Otis Air National Guard Base in western Cape Cod.
It is believed to have started on a site called Discord, a social media platform popular with people playing online games.
Teixeira is believed to have posted about guns, games and top secret US government information.
He was identified as the ringleader of a chatroom, known as Thug Shaker Central, on Discord, an invite-only platform.
He then allegedly posted images of folded-up papers because he felt his writings weren’t being taken seriously, the Associated Press reported.
Officials at the US Justice Department have opened a probe into the 21-year-old, whose actions embarrassed US allies around the world.
