The Massachusetts Air National Guard member charged with leaking top-secret military documents was repeatedly warned by superiors about his handling or viewing of classified information, prosecutors say.
Justice Department lawyers made the disclosure Wednesday in court filings, urging a judge to keep 21-year-old Jack Teixeira behind bars pending trial in the case.
Magistrate Judge David H. Hennessy is expected to hear more arguments at the request of prosecutors and rule on Teixeira’s pre-trial detention status at a hearing on Friday.
Teixeira is accused of sharing top secret documents on important national security issues in a chat room on Discord, a social media platform that started out as a hangout for gamers. He has not yet pleaded the case.
The documents, widely circulated online, revealed US concerns about Ukraine’s military capability against invading Russian forces, embarrassingly revealing that Washington was apparently spying on allies Israel and South Korea.
Jack Teixeira, 21, was repeatedly warned by superiors for his handling or viewing of classified information, prosecutors say
Several memos released by prosecutors noted that superiors were concerned about Teixeira’s behavior regarding classified information, and repeatedly warned him about the matter
Prosecutors told the judge in their file that Teixeira continued to leak documents even after being reprimanded by superiors on two separate occasions last year for “concerning actions” he took regarding classified information.
A September memo from the 102nd intelligence wing of the Air National Guard, which prosecutors filed with the court, states that Teixeira was observed taking notes on classified intelligence information and pocketing the notes.
At the time, Teixeira was instructed not to take notes in any form on classified intelligence information, the memo said.
Another memo from late October says a superior was made aware that Teixeira “may have ignored the cease and desist order to dive deep into intelligence information” given to him the previous month.
The memo states that Teixeira attended a meeting and then asked “very specific questions.” He was again told to focus on his job, not “deep dives” into classified intelligence information.
Still, a third memo from February says Teixeira was again under observation as he was reviewing information “unrelated to his primary job and related to the intelligence field.” Teixeira “had previously been instructed to focus on his own career duties and not seek out intelligence products,” the memo said.
“The defendant even continued to share information with his online associates, despite these admonitions and further efforts to cover up his wrongful conduct,” the prosecutors wrote.
Prosecutors cited a video clip published by the Washington Post (above) in which Teixeira spews racial slurs before raising a semi-automatic rifle and firing repeatedly
Prosecutors shared this certificate showing that Teixeira had received training on how to handle classified information, arguing that he clearly knew the leaking of the documents was wrong
This image in the Justice Department’s motion for continued pre-trial detention of Jack Teixeira shows his room at his father’s home in North Dighton, Massachusetts
The revelations have raised questions about why military officials took no further action and why Teixeira continued to have access to classified information after his superiors raised concerns.
Pentagon spokesman Sabrina Singh was questioned Thursday about why Teixeira leaders took no action after concerns were raised.
Singh referred to the Justice Department and Air Force investigations and said those concerns and the possible lack of response to them were one of the areas the investigations would examine.
A judge is expected to rule Friday on Teixeira’s request for provisional release
Lawyers for Teixeira, who was arrested last month on espionage charges, are urging the judge to release Teixeira to his father’s home, noting that the man did not flee when media reports shortly before his April 13 arrest started publishing his name.
His lawyer told the judge last month that Teixeira “will answer the charges” and “be tried by his fellow citizens.”
In their own court case on Wednesday, Teixeira’s lawyers noted that there have been many espionage law cases where courts have approved release or the government has failed to try to keep the person behind bars pending trial.
They have also said there is no allegation that Teixeira ever intended to widely distribute documents.
But prosecutors said in their filing Wednesday that one of the servers on the social media platform on which he posted classified information had at least 150 users at the time the information was shared and “may now have many more users actively seeking access.” to information’. ‘
“Among those with whom the Defendant shared government information are a number of individuals who stated they lived in other countries and logged into the social media platform with foreign IP addresses,” the prosecutors wrote.
In Discord posts, Teixeira bragged about the scope of information he had access to and stated that he broke “a bunch” of rules, according to chat logs shared in court cases
Leaked documents like the one above, widely circulated on Twitter and Russia-based Telegram, revealed information about the war in Ukraine, among other things
In posts, Teixeira bragged about the scope of information he had access to, writing, “The information I am providing here is less than half of what is available,” prosecutors said.
He also acknowledged he was not supposed to share the information, prosecutors said, noting in a light-hearted post: “I’m breaking a ton of UD [unauthorized disclosure] reg’.
Teixeira continued, “All the things I have told you, I am not allowed to do,” the Justice Department’s file read.
Judge Hennessy heard arguments from lawyers about detention late last month but has yet to rule and has scheduled a second hearing on the case for Friday after multiple prosecutions.
In previous court records, prosecutors alleged that Teixeira kept a “virtual arsenal” of guns in his father’s home before his arrest and has a history of violent and disturbing remarks.
The leaked documents appear to detail US and NATO assistance to Ukraine and US intelligence assessments regarding US allies that could strain ties with those countries.
Some show real-time details from February and March of the battlefield positions of Ukraine and Russia and the exact number of battlefield equipment lost and newly poured into Ukraine from its allies.