Prosecutors say they fear foreign enemies could try to recruit Pentagon leak suspect Jack Teixeira because of what he knows and his limited net worth — half of which is in guns
AP Photo/Margaret Small
- Federal prosecutors want Pentagon leak suspect Jack Teixeira to remain in custody.
- They argue in court documents the 21-year-old could flee the country, or harm US national security.
- US adversaries may try to recruit him because of what he knows and financial vulnerabilities, they say.
Federal prosecutors want a Massachusetts Air National Guard member who stands accused of leaking highly sensitive US military documents to remain behind bars. They fear he might he tempted to flee the country or become a person of interest to US adversaries.
A judge is expected to rule Thursday on whether or not Jack Teixeira — a 21-year-old suspected of distributing top secret Pentagon information — will remain in federal custody before his trial. Court documents filed Wednesday night show prosecutors expressing concern that Teixeira's release could pose a tremendous risk to US national security.
Prosecutors argue that Teixeira might try to flee the country given the severity of the punishment for his alleged crimes — possibly decades in prison — and could seek refuge in adversarial countries. According to the court documents reviewed by Insider, Teixeira could still have access to highly sensitive information that might be valuable to hostile nations, which could be incentivized to help him escape the country and offer him protection.
Teixeira is "an attractive candidate for recruitment by a foreign government that would seek to procure, disseminate, and use classified information to its benefit and to the detriment of the United States," prosecutors allege.
They wrote that Teixeira's "limited means" could make him vulnerable to payment and recruitment by a US adversary. His net worth before authorities arrested him was around $19,000, the documents say, and approximately half of that was in the value of the guns he owned.
Prosecutors allege that Teixeira kept a gun locker at his home in southeastern Massachusetts that contained handguns, shotguns, bolt-action rifles, and "an AK-style high-capacity weapon." Authorities also found other pieces of equipment like a gas mask, a military-style helmet, ammunition, tactical pouches, and a silencer-style accessory.
Regardless of whether or not Teixeira would attempt to flee the country were he released from federal custody, prosecutors still allege that he would pose "a direct threat of causing additional exceptionally grave damage" to US national security because he's already viewed hundreds of classified documents.
"There simply is no condition or combination of conditions that can ensure the Defendant will not further disclose additional information still in his knowledge or possession," prosecutors argue.
"The damage the Defendant has already caused to the US national security is immense," they wrote in the court documents. "The damage the Defendant is still capable of causing is extraordinary. Detention is necessary to ensure that the Defendant does not continue on his destructive and damaging path."
Teixeira's attorneys did not respond to Insider's requests for comment.
The trove of highly sensitive Pentagon documents Teixeira allegedly leaked circulated around social media for months before becoming the focus of a federal investigation earlier this month. They contain top secret US intelligence about Washington's partners — like South Korea, Egypt, and Israel — and its adversaries, like China, Russia, and North Korea.
Dozens of documents in particular detail the ongoing war in Ukraine and include information about battlefield capabilities, casualty and attrition rates, and how various weapons systems are performing. Because the documents contain classified information that details US intelligence gathering, their public disclosure has triggered alarm bells in Washington.
Teixeira was arrested in connection with the leak on April 13 and charged the following day with unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information and unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or material. He faces 25 years — possibly more — in prison.
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Friday, April 28, 2023
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