Jack Teixeira was arrested Thursday following a week-long probe into the leak of documents -- which unveiled US concern over Ukraine's ability to fend off the Russian invasion, and showed Washington has spied on allies Israel and South Korea.
It is the biggest such breach since the 2013 dump of National Security Agency documents by Edward Snowden and raises tough questions about junior staffer Teixeira's access to high-level secrets.
Teixeira, who wore a beige jumpsuit and appeared glum at his first court appearance in Boston, was charged with the "unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information."
He is also accused of the "unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or material." The counts carry maximum prison sentences of 10 years and five years, respectively.
At one point during the short hearing, his father shouted out, "We love you Jack," to which Teixeira responded: "Love you too, Dad."
He was not required to enter a plea and was held pending a detention hearing set for next Wednesday.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland said there were "very serious penalties" associated with the crimes.
"People who sign agreements to be able to receive classified documents acknowledge the importance to the national security of not disclosing those documents, and we intend to send that message (about) how important it is to our national security," Garland added.
US President Joe Biden said in Ireland, where he was traveling, that he had ordered the Pentagon "to make sure they get to the root of why (Teixeira) had access in the first place, number one, and number two, to focus extensively on the extent to which it all occurred."
Teixeira is suspected of posting the documents, some dated as recently as early March, to a private chat group on the social media platform Discord.
The New York Times reported that Teixeira was the leader of the group called Thug Shaker Central and reportedly posted the documents under the nickname "OG."
He first wrote down the contents of classified documents to share with the group but later began taking photos, telling other members not to share them, according to a court affidavit by an FBI agent released Friday.
Some of the documents later appeared on other sites, including Twitter, 4Chan and Telegram.
Among new revelations from the documents, US intelligence services were aware of up to four additional Chinese spy balloons other than the one that was spotted in late January as it entered US airspace, then tracked sailing across the US before fighter jets shot it down over the Atlantic February 4, the Washington Post reported.
One of the earlier Chinese balloons flew over a US aircraft carrier and its strike group on maneuvers in the Pacific, the Post said.
- Military family -
Investigators have not yet suggested what Teixeira's motive was.
He enlisted with the US Air Force National Guard in September 2019 and was an IT and communications specialist who reached the rank of airman first class -- the third-lowest for enlisted air force personnel.
Friends of Teixeira described him to The Washington Post as a devout Catholic and libertarian who is interested in guns.
The newspaper reported that his father spent 34 years in the same military unit as his son, while Teixeira's mother worked for non-profit organizations that support veterans.
Teixeira's dramatic arrest at his home in the southern Massachusetts town of Dighton was broadcast live on US TV networks Thursday.
Helicopter footage of the operation showed the suspect dressed in red shorts and a T-shirt with his hands behind his head, backing slowly toward rifle-armed, camouflage-clad law enforcement personnel who took him into custody.
Friday's court affidavit said that Teixeira had possessed top-secret security clearance since 2021 and was privy to further information that not everyone with a regular top secret clearance needs to know.
Who is US leaks suspect Jack Teixeira?
New York (AFP) April 14, 2023 -
Described as a patriot by friends and coming from a family boasting decades of military service, Jack Teixeira seems an unlikely trigger for the largest US espionage scandal in decades.
But the low-ranking national guardsman who possessed top secret security clearance at a young age is accused of being just that, and faces years in prison if convicted of leaking dozens of classified documents.
The portrait painted in the US media by people who know Teixeira is more one of a naive young man seeking to impress friends than a crusading whistleblower intent on blowing open American secrets.
The 21-year-old from the small town of Dighton in southern Massachusetts enlisted with the US Air Force National Guard in September 2019.
According to court documents citing government records, Teixeira reached the rank of airman first class -- the third-lowest for enlisted air force personnel -- in May 2022.
He is a communications and IT specialist based at Otis Air National Guard Base in Cape Cod, around 70 miles (110 kilometers) south of Boston.
As of February this year, Teixeira's title was cyber defense operations journeyman, an FBI agent said in a court affidavit released Friday.
Special Agent Patrick Lueckenhoff added that, "As required for this position, Teixeira holds a top secret security clearance, which was granted in 2021."
In addition to that clearance, Teixeira also maintained "sensitive compartmented access (SCI) to other highly classified programs," since 2021, Lueckenhoff added.
SCI is information that is further restricted. To receive access, Teixeira would had to have agreed to "properly protect" the information by not disclosing it to people without privileged access.
He would also have been required to agree not to remove it from "authorized storage facilities" or hold it in "unauthorized locations," the affidavit added.
The criminal complaint alleges that Teixeira began posting classified information in a chat group on the internet platform Discord in and around December last year.
The group's purpose was "to discuss geopolitical affairs and current and historical wars."
Teixeira is accused of first posting paragraphs of text from documents before going on to post photographs of the documents themselves.
- 'Loner' -
The government says computer logs show that Teixeira accessed a document about troop movements in the Russia-Ukraine war a day before it was reposted online.
One friend told the paper that Teixeira had not wanted to undermine US national security but hoped to educate younger members of the online group.
"He loved America but simply didn't feel confident in its future," the Post quoted the person as saying.
Other members of the group said Teixeira had shared racist and anti-Semitic jokes.
Teixeira comes from a family with decades of military service, according to the Washington Post.
His stepfather spent 34 years in the same unit as his son, while Teixeira's mother worked for non-profit organizations that support veterans, the newspaper said.
Friends told the Post that Teixeira was patriotic, a devout Catholic and a libertarian. They added that he had an interest in guns.
Former classmates told CNN that he would sometimes wear camouflage to school.
"He was more of a loner, and having a fascination with war and guns made him off-putting to a lot of people," said one.
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