Young soldier charged with leaking defense classified documents
Arrested Thursday in Massachusetts, Jack Teixeira was presented Friday in federal court in Boston. He is accused of endangering the national security of the United States.
Updated
The suspect is a 21-year-old junior Air National Guard employee.
via REUTERS
Accused of being at the origin of one of the most serious scandals of leaks of confidential documents for ten years in the United States, Jack Teixeira was charged Friday by federal justice, the day after his arrest. This junior Air National Guard employee had been arrested Thursday without incident in Dighton, a small rural town in Massachusetts, according to Attorney General Merrick Garland.
New hearing on Wednesday
The young 21-year-old soldier was presented before a federal court in Boston (northeast). He was charged with “unauthorized retention and transmission of information relating to national defense”, and “unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or materials”, according to a court document. The young soldier was taken into custody pending a new hearing scheduled for Wednesday.
Jack Teixeira is accused of having posed a “very serious” risk to the national security of the United States, according to the Pentagon. He allegedly leaked confidential documents on the war in Ukraine to a private online group on the social network Discord, which also suggests that Washington is collecting intelligence on its closest allies, including Israel and South Korea. A most embarrassing affair for the government of President Joe Biden.
Dozens of photos of these documents have been relayed on Discord, but also Twitter and Telegram, some having undoubtedly circulated for weeks, if not months, before attracting the attention of the press. However, US authorities have not publicly confirmed the authenticity of these documents posted online, and it has not yet been independently verified.
(AFP)
