Criminal charges filed against Jack Teixeira, the man suspected of leaking sensitive US defense documents, cast new light on his access to classified documents, his military career, and the events leading up to his arrest on April 13th.
Mr. Teixeira, a 21-year-old member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, is now charged with “unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information” and “unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or material.”
The combined maximum sentence for the offenses is 15 years in prison.
The documents, which were reportedly shared in an online gaming chatroom, contained detailed information about the conflict in Ukraine as well as US intelligence about other allies and adversaries around the world.
While US officials have not yet provided details about the investigation or the scope of the leak, court documents filed on Friday provide insight into Mr. Teixeira’s life and how the leak allegedly occurred.
The prosecution document states the following.
Initial documents uploaded in December
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The criminal complaint against Mr. Teixeira contains an affidavit written by an FBI agent who specializes in counterintelligence and espionage matters.
In the affidavit, FBI Special Agent Patrick Lueckenhoff states that in December 2022, an individual using a username subsequently linked to Mr. Teixeira via payment records began posting what appeared to be classified information.
The affidavit states that the remarks were made on a Discord chat server dedicated to geopolitical discussion.
According to the affidavit, images of documents that “appeared to contain classification markings on official US government documents” were posted in January.
Unidentified social media user User 1 told the FBI that one of the documents posted in the initial batch “described the status of the Russia-Ukraine” conflict, including military movements on a specific day.
According to the affidavit, the document is “based on sensitive US intelligence, gathered through classified sources and methods.”
According to the affidavit, due to its “top secret” classification, its disclosure could cause “exceptionally grave damage” to national security.
User 1 also informed the FBI that Mr. Teixeira “became concerned that he might be discovered transcribing text in the workplace, so he began bringing the documents home and photographing them.”
It appears that photographs of some of the leaked documents evaluated by BBC News were taken at a residential address. In some, a kitchen countertop and floor tiles are plainly visible, whereas, in others, a desk features a variety of personal items.
Mr. Teixeira possessed ‘top secret’ clearance
Mr. Teixeira joined the Air National Guard in September 2019, according to court documents. As of February, he was designated as a “Cyber Defense Operations Journeyman” despite his relatively low rank of E-3/airman first class.
A “top secret” security clearance was granted to him in 2021. In the same year, he was granted “sensitive compartmented access” to additional classified US government programs.
To obtain this clearance, he would have had to sign a lifetime, legally binding non-disclosure agreement “in which he would have acknowledged that unauthorized disclosure of protected information could result in criminal charges.”
Mark Zaid, a national security attorney who frequently handles cases involving classified information, told BBC News that it would not be out of the ordinary for someone as young as Mr. Teixeira to have access to classified documents similar to those that were published online.
“Many individuals of that age have access to classified information, especially in the National Guard,” Mr. Zaid stated. The question is rather why he had access to documents he presumably had no need to know.
As an airman designated to cyber transport systems, Mr. Teixeira was responsible for assisting in the operation of the global communications network of the Air Force.
Mr. Zaid stated that in this position, Mr. Teixeira would have had access to the Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System, or JWICS, which he characterized as a “library of information” regarding US intelligence.
A search for the keyword ‘disclosure’
The criminal complaint also alleges that Mr. Teixeira used his government computer to search for intelligence reports containing the word “leak” on April 6 – the same day that the first public report about the leak was released.
“Therefore, there is reason to believe that Teixeira was searching for classified reports on the US intelligence community’s assessment of the identity of the individual who transmitted classified national defense information,” the document adds.
The allegations also demonstrate that Mr. Teixeira’s criminal charge is partially based on the Espionage Act.
His first allegation is specifically under a statute that imposes a prison term of up to 10 years and fines for anyone who “copies, takes, makes or obtains or attempts to copy, take, make or obtain” a variety of government documents.
This information “could be used to the detriment of the United States or to the benefit of any foreign nation,” according to the statute.
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