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WORCESTER, Mass. (WPRI) — The Dighton man charged with leaking highly classified military documents is expected to appear in federal court Friday morning.
Jack Teixeira, 21, is charged with unauthorized transmission of defense materials and unauthorized retention and removal of classified documents.
After being postponed last month, a judge will now decide whether Teixeira should remain behind bars while he awaits trial.
The latest court filing from prosecutors released this week says Teixeira was caught taking notes on classified information or viewing intelligence not related to his job. He was warned twice in September and October, and again in February about mishandling classified material.
Teixeira has not yet entered a plea. His lawyers are urging the judge to release him to his father’s home saying he didn’t flee when the media began publishing his name before he was arrested on April 13.
Prosecutors had previously said releasing Teixeira would be a “grave threat to the U.S. national security” and his “troubling history raises serious concerns about what he would do if released into the community.”
Photos released of Teixeira’s bedrooms at both his mother’s and father’s homes showed an arsenal of weapons found by investigators.
The court documents also revealed Teixeira made comments about weapons in 2018 while he was a sophomore at Dighton-Rehoboth Regional High School, which got him suspended.
Additionally, investigators said he used his government computer last year to search for recent mass shootings.
Prosecutors said that when the leak of the documents began to surface, Teixeira took steps to destroy the evidence. He allegedly told others online to “delete all messages” and “if anyone comes looking don’t tell them [expletive].”
Teixeira was granted top-secret security clearance in 2021. The FBI said in order to receive that, he would’ve had to have signed a non-disclosure agreement that spells out that the unauthorized sharing of protected information could result in criminal charges.
His most recent job title was cyber defense operations journeyman.
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