Leaked Pentagon Secrets: Jack Teixeira indicted

Young American faces harsh sentence for leaking confidential documents

Jack Teixeira, Pentagon leak suspect, indicted by federal grand jury. A US Air National Guard soldier has been charged with six counts of possessing and handing over classified national defense documents, according to the US Department of Justice.

US serviceman Jack Teixeira, 21, was indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly leaking confidential intelligence and defense documents online, the US Department of Justice said on Thursday.

Teixeira, of North Dayton, Massachusetts, has been charged with six counts of knowingly storing and transmitting classified national defense information, according to The Guardian, citing a Department of Justice report.

U.S. District Court Magistrate David Hennessy granted the government’s motion to remand the defendant on May 19, the Justice Department added in a press statement.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said, “As stated in the indictment, the United States government trusted Jack Teixeira with access to classified national defense information, including information that could reasonably be expected to cause exceptionally serious harm to national security if disclosed.”

He added: “Teixeira is accused of sharing information with users of the social media platform who he knew were not entitled to receive it. In doing so, he allegedly violated US law and endangered our national security.”

Jack Teixeira, who currently remains in federal custody, was arrested by armed FBI agents at his family’s home in April of this year. He enlisted in the US Air National Guard in September 2019 and has had a top secret security clearance since 2021.

According to federal prosecutors, Teixeira is accused of willfully, improperly and illegally storing and transmitting national defense information beginning on or about January 2022. According to the indictment documents, the files in question were classified as “top secret” or “classified”.

The leak is believed to have originated on Discord, a social media platform popular with the online gaming community. Jack Teixeira is believed to have been the leader of a Discord group chat called Thug Shaker Central. The chat has 20 to 30 young people and teenagers who often post about guns, games and racist memes.

In April, Teixeira was indicted on two separate counts under the Espionage Act, recalls The Guardian.

One of the charges is the unauthorized storage and transmission of national defense information that “may be used to harm the United States or in the interests of any foreign state.”

Another charge is the unauthorized seizure and storage of classified documents or materials.

Each charge of unauthorized storage and transmission of national defense information carries penalties of up to 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000, the US Department of Justice said.