Jack D. Teixeira made his first appearance in federal court Friday after the 21-year-old Massachusetts Air National Guardsman was accused of publicizing highly classified documents that exposed top national and international defense and security information.
A criminal complaint unsealed with Teixeira's court appearance spells out two charges: unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information and unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or material. The charges could earn Teixeira up to 15 years in prison if he is ultimately convicted.
Teixeira’s court appearance came one day after he was arrested in North Dighton, Massachusetts. The criminal complaint against him came with an affidavit from an FBI counterintelligence agent detailing an investigation into Teixeira’s online activity.
As part of his job as a cyber defense operations journeyman with the United States Army National Guard, Teixeira holds a top secret security clearance.
According to the complaint, an unnamed user of an unspecified social media platform told investigators that Teixeira initially posted sensitive government information as paragraphs of text on a private chat channel.
The Washington Post first reported that Teixeira was part of an invite-only channel on Discord, a social media platform popular among gamers.
Teixeira, the complaint said, eventually became fearful his activity would be discovered if he continued to transcribe documents while at work, and so he began taking them home and photographing them. Photos of documents with official classification markings of the U.S. government were eventually published on the private chat channel, the complaint said.
Teixeira stood quietly before U.S. Magistrate Judge David Hennessy for most of his roughly half-hour appearance. He responded “yes” when asked if he understood his right to remain silent, and again when asked about the financial affidavit that qualified him for court-appointed counsel.
Three family members sat behind Teixeira in the front row of the courtroom. They remained quiet until he was handcuffed and escorted out, at which point a man shouted out, “I love you, Jack.”
“I love you too, Dad,” Teixeira responded as he was led out by court marshals.
The family members did not respond to reporters' questions as they exited the courthouse.
Teixeira will be held without bail until next week. His next court appearance is scheduled for Wednesday, April 19.
