On Friday, a 21-year-old member of the US Air National Guard, Jack Douglas Teixeira, was charged with unlawfully copying and transmitting classified material. He was accused of leaking top secret military intelligence records online. Teixeira, who hails from North Dighton, Massachusetts, was arrested by heavily armed FBI agents at his home on Thursday. He made his initial appearance in a crowded federal court wearing a brown khaki jumpsuit.
The leaked documents were believed to be the most serious US security breach since more than 700,000 documents, videos, and diplomatic cables appeared on the WikiLeaks website in 2010. The Pentagon has called the leak a ‘deliberate, criminal act.’ According to court records unsealed on Friday, billing records of an internet social media platform helped the FBI identify Teixeira in the leak of highly classified military documents. A judge ordered him held until a detention hearing next week.
During the brief proceeding, Teixeira said little, answering ‘yes’ when asked whether he understood his right to remain silent. The judge appointed a federal public defender for Teixeira, whose financial affidavit showed that he qualified for one. After the hearing, three of Teixeira’s family members left the courthouse, with a group of reporters trailing them for several blocks. They entered a car without making any comments.
US President Joe Biden said on Friday that he ordered investigators to determine why the alleged leaker had access to the sensitive information, which included records showing purported details of Ukrainian military vulnerabilities and embarrassed Washington by revealing its spying on allies. Biden said he was taking steps to tighten security. ‘While we are still determining the validity of those documents, I have directed our military and intelligence community to take steps to further secure and limit distribution of sensitive information,’ he said in a statement.
The leak did not come to light until it was reported by the New York Times last week, even though the documents were posted on a social media website weeks earlier. Fallout from the case has roiled Washington, with Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer requesting a briefing for all 100 senators next week and Republican House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy vowing to investigate. ‘The Biden administration has failed to secure classified information,’ McCarthy said on Twitter. ‘Through our committees, Congress will get answers as to why they were asleep at the switch.’
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