Hey, Ryan. He is now joining us. Lucas Ryan, a correspondent for NPR, is now covering this. He made his initial appearance today in a federal court in Boston, where a judge ordered that he remain in custody for now. Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old Guardsman in the National Air, is facing charges under the Espionage Act for allegedly leaking a trove of U.S. Intelligence documents to them.
RYAN LUCAS, BYLINE: Hello there.
LIMBONG: So Teixeira was arrested yesterday. He appeared in court today. What is he accused of?
As you mentioned, Lucas, Teixeira is facing two charges here according to court documents. One charge is for the unauthorized removal of classified documents, while the other charge is for the unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information. Today in Boston’s federal court, Teixeira appeared dressed in a khaki prison uniform for a very brief detention hearing, which was scheduled by a federal magistrate judge and will take place next Wednesday.
LIMBONG: What other information did we gather from the charging records that were unveiled today?
Lucas, we learned a bit more about you. In September 2019, you enlisted in the National Guard Air Wing Intelligence at Otis Air Base in Cape Cod. Previously, you worked at the 102nd Military Intelligence Wing at Otis, where you held the rank of first-class airman and worked as a journeyman in cyber defense operations. It is also worth noting that you had top-secret security clearance and had access to sensitive information in another realm.
Did you acquire any extra information today? Were there any further details you acquired today? There has been a significant amount of public reporting regarding the manner in which the leak transpired. LIMBONG: Yes, yes.
, You’re absolutely right. There has been a lot of public discussion about the intelligence materials related to the war in Ukraine.
LIMBONG: Yeah.
Something well-liked, undoubtedly Discord, but we are aware that court documents do not specify the platform. According to court papers, Teixeira started sharing confidential data on a social networking site in December. As for how they surfaced online, Lucas: …
LIMBONG: Amongst gamers.
Instead of engaging in that activity, he brought the materials to his residence and proceeded to capture images of them. As stated in legal documents, he began sharing pictures of official documents from the U.S. Government that contained classified labels. At first, Teixeira supposedly only shared sections of text from classified information, specifically targeting gamers. Subsequently, in January, he reportedly began posting photographs of classified U.S. Government documents that featured classification markings. Teixeira purportedly started taking pictures out of concern that he could be caught transcribing these documents while at his job.
LIMBONG: How did the officials successfully trace this leakage back to Teixeira?
LUCAS: Well, the exposed materials were available for a while before…
LIMBONG: Yeah.
In Dighton North, Massachusetts, there was a heavily armed SWAT team that arrested and apprehended Teixeira at a home. The FBI was able to identify Teixeira based on his driver’s license photo, as well as information from subscriber records and account billing. One user in a Discord group had spoken to Teixeira over video chat and informed the FBI about it. It seems that the FBI has obtained a lot of information from an unnamed witness identified in court papers. These documents caught the attention of the US government, as they moved quickly to investigate.
What measures is the government implementing to suppress these leaks? Considering Edward Snowden and WikiLeaks, it seems that there have been numerous instances of leaked information in the past decade. This is something I’m contemplating.
It is crucial to understand that it is not acceptable to reveal secrets. It is important to remind those entrusted with protecting U.S. Secrets that leaking classified information carries severe penalties. Today, Attorney General Merrick Garland also discussed this long-standing issue, emphasizing the need for intelligence agencies and the military to tighten their handling of sensitive materials. President Biden has directed them to prevent future leaks. This leak is significant compared to the vast scale of leaks from WikiLeaks, and it seems to have occurred through various means. Overall, it is essential to recognize the importance of preventing such leaks. Well, that’s what I think.