Accused Air National Guard leaker indicted by federal grand jury in Boston

A federal grand jury in Boston on Thursday indicted an Air National Guardsman accused of posting a number of secret documents online, the Justice Department said.

Jack Teixeira, 21, is charged with six counts of willful retention and transmission of classified information while he was assigned to an Air National Guard on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

Airman Teixeira was arrested in April 2023 and remains in custody after a federal magistrate judge ruled that he posed a “continuing threat to national security and public safety.”

“The unauthorized removal, retention, and transmission of classified information jeopardize our nation’s security,” Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy said Thursday. “Individuals granted access to classified materials have a fundamental duty to safeguard the information for the safety of the United States, our active service members, its citizens, and its allies.”

Airman Teixeira enlisted in the Air National Guard in September 2019 and has held a Top-Secret security clearance since 2021.

Federal prosecutors said he began illegally posting government secrets to the Discord online site in January 2022, first by copying information by hand and later by posting images of classified documents.

“The American people entrust security clearance holders with our nation’s secrets, and anyone who flagrantly violates their duty to protect those secrets by unlawfully communicating classified national defense information to people who are not entitled to receive it will be brought to justice to answer for their criminal conduct,” said Christopher DiMenna, acting special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston office.

Two of Airman Teixeira’s military superiors at the 102nd Intelligence Wing on Cape Cod were suspended from duties pending the completion of an internal investigation by the Air Force inspector general’s office.

Their access to classified information also is blocked pending the outcome of the inquiry, officials said.

Airman Teixeira is facing 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted of unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information, the Justice Department said.