Yesterday, the US Federal Grand Jury in Boston leveled additional federal charges against Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old IT specialist with the Air National Guard. The young airman, who was arrested in April, allegedly masterminded the most damaging leak of classified US documents in the past decade.
Teixeira has been indicted on six counts of wilfully retaining and transmitting classified information pertinent to national defense, each charge carrying a potential sentence of up to ten years. This is on top of two other counts filed against him post-arrest.
Teixeira is suspected of sharing these classified documents in a private chat group on Discord, a popular social media platform. Soon after, these files appeared on various other platforms, such as Twitter, 4Chan, and Telegram, spreading across the internet rapidly.
The leaked documents unveiled a significant amount of sensitive information, including the US’s concern over Ukraine’s military capacity against invading Russian forces. They also suggested that Washington has been spying on allied countries like Israel and South Korea.
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This leak is the largest of its kind since Edward Snowden’s 2013 release of National Security Agency documents, raising concerns about how Teixeira, a junior staffer and the third-lowest rank for enlisted US Air Force personnel, had access to such top-level secrets.
Given Teixeira’s violent online statements and fears of his potential access to classified documents, a judge ordered him to stay in jail pending trial last month. Prosecutors maintain that his release could assist “hostile” nations and compromise national security.
Teixeira’s defense argues against the perceived threat, stating that their client no longer has access to classified information and should be released into his father’s custody.
Teixeira was arrested dramatically on live television on April 13.
This news is based on the report by Malay Mail.
