The Justice Department announced that a federal Grand Jury had indicted Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira for charges related to the alleged leaking of classified military documents.
According to a release posted on the official section of the DOJ’s website by the U.S. Attorney’s Office of Massachusetts entitled “Air National Guardsman indicted for Unlawful Dissemination of Classified National Defense Information”.
Boston – A United States Air National Guard member stationed in Massachusetts was indicted in Boston by a federal grand jury for allegedly transmitting and retaining classified National Defense Information via a social media platform starting in or around the year 2022 and continuing up until his arrest in 2023.
Jack Douglas Teixeira (21), of North Dighton in Massachusetts, was charged with six counts of willful transmission and retention of classified information related to national defense. Teixeira, 21, was arrested in North Dighton, Massachusetts on April 13, 2023. He was charged with a criminal complaint for retention and transmission of national defense information as well as unauthorized removal or retention of classified materials. David H. Hennessy, Magistrate Judge of the U.S. District Court, granted the government’s request for detention on May 19, 2023. Teixeira remains in federal custody.
Teixeira, as we reported previously, was arrested in April and charged with a crime.
Jack Teixeira (21), the Massachusetts Air National Guardsman who was arrested on Thursday for leaking Pentagon documents, appeared in court on Friday. He was charged with:
Unauthorized transmission and retention of national defense information
The removal or retention of classified material without authorization.
Teixeira appeared just after 10 am Eastern at the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
The maximum sentence for the two criminal charges is 15 years. Teixeira has not entered a plea and is being held pending a hearing on Wednesday. The government wants to continue detention.
After his indictment, there were many consequences, including the loss of his unit’s intel mission and suspensions for two of his commanding officers. The guardsman had been denied a firearm license but was still able to get intelligence clearance. The Teixeira case could also have a connection to the Chinese spy balloon debacle.
We will continue to provide updates on this story as we receive more information.
