A US airman has been charged with leaking highly classified military intelligence records online. Jack Teixeira appeared before a federal judge in Boston, wearing shackles and a prison uniform. He faces up to 15 years in prison over charges of unauthorised transmission of defence information and up to five years in prison for unauthorised removal and retention of classified documents. The leaks contained sensitive secrets about American allies and US assessments of the war in Ukraine.
Teixeira was arrested by FBI agents at his family home in Massachusetts. He worked as an IT specialist in the intelligence wing of the Massachusetts National Guard and held a “top secret” security clearance since 2021. Teixeira had to sign a lifetime binding non-disclosure agreement to take on his role. Prosecutors alleged that Teixeira used his government computer to search classified intelligence reporting for the word “leak” on the day when public reporting about the documents first emerged.
Teixeira posted the leaked documents on a Discord chat room on which he was an administrator. It was not until intelligence material was posted outside the chat room group that Pentagon officials became aware of the leak, prompting a search for the culprit. The leaks embarrassed Washington and raised fresh questions over the security of classified information. US President Joe Biden thanked law enforcement in a statement for their “rapid action” to investigate the source of the leaks and has directed the US military and intelligence to secure and limit distribution of any more sensitive information.
Source: BBC