Jack Teichera, 21, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard charged with leaking classified military documents, will appear again before a federal judge on Friday.
This meeting is expected to decide whether Teixera will remain behind bars pending a trial on the merits of his case.
Teixera is accused of posting classified documents about Russia’s war in Ukraine and other national security issues on social media Discord.
In documents filed with the court this week, the prosecution said that in the months before Teixera’s arrest, his superiors had repeatedly accused the soldier of viewing classified data unrelated to his job.
So, in September 2022, one of Teixera’s superiors noticed that he was taking notes regarding classified information, after which he put a piece of paper in his pocket. Teixeira received a warning and received another warning in October 2022 when he asked too detailed questions during a briefing.
In February 2023, authorities again noted that Teixera was reviewing intelligence information “unrelated to his direct duties”. This is stated in memos from the US Air Force National Guard, submitted to the court.
Despite these red flags and after two official warnings, Teixere was still offered training to become an intelligence collator, a specialist who assesses the significance and brings out the meaning of the information gathered. Teixera declined the offer made to him.
Released court documents raised questions about why Teixera continued to have access to military secrets after all the red flags.
Responding to this question – why military authorities in Teixera failed to take appropriate action, Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh referred to ongoing Justice Department and US Air Force investigations, which should bring answers, especially to these questions.
Already after the warnings issued last year at the beginning of January, Teixera boasted on the Internet of having extensive access to top secret information.
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