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A federal judge did not immediately decide Thursday whether Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira, who has been accused of leaking hundreds of classified documents<\/a>, should remain behind bars while he awaits trial.<\/p>\n

The federal magistrate judge assigned to the case, David Hennessy, heard arguments from Teixeira’s attorneys as well as prosecutors.<\/p>\n

AIR FORCE SUSPENDS TWO LEADERS OF ALLEGED PENTAGON LEAKER’S UNIT<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

Teixeira was escorted out of the courtroom at the end of the roughly 90-minute hearing and remains in custody. The judge did not say whether he would issue a written ruling or convene another hearing to announce his decision.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors argued<\/a> in a filing late Wednesday night that the 21-year-old poses a “serious security risk” in part because he “may still have access to a trove of classified information that would be of tremendous value to hostile nation states that could offer him safe harbor and attempt to facilitate his escape from the United States.” Teixeira’s defense attorneys, however, argued he should be released even if it means imposing restrictions on him, such as location monitoring, barring him from accessing the internet, or contacting any witnesses in the case.<\/p>\n

Nadine Pellegrini, one of the prosecutors, argued during the hearing that the government’s position is based on “the words and the actions of this defendant,” not “speculation” or “hyperbole.”<\/p>\n

Teixeira is accused of leaking the documents to a private Discord group chat of roughly 20 to 30 individuals around his age with similar interests. He began sharing classified information with them months before he was caught, which only occurred after another member of the group began sharing the information on other social media platforms.<\/p>\n

The judge questioned Teixeira\u2019s lawyer over the argument that he didn\u2019t expect the leaked information to be spread further on the internet.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomeone under the age of 30 has no idea that if they put something on the internet that it could end up anywhere in this world?\u201d Hennessy asked. “But the circumstances of this event are that \u2026 he had no idea that it would go beyond this little circle of people on the server \u2026 That is like someone arguing, \u2018I pulled the trigger, but I had no intent to kill him.\u2019 I find it a little incredible that the defendant could not foresee that possibility.”<\/p>\n

Teixeira was charged<\/a> earlier this month under the Espionage Act with unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information and unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or material.<\/p>\n

Teixeira’s father, who is also named Jack Teixeira, told the judge he was willing to report his son to the court if the younger Jack Teixeira were to break his conditions of release.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy son is well aware of the fact that if he is released and does anything against probation, I will report it to his probation officer or anyone else,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The prosecutors’ filing preemptively addressed the defense’s argument: \u201cNo condition or combination of conditions will reasonably ensure that the defendant does not flee, and that the defendant would not take further steps to obstruct justice, including through the destruction of evidence or other action that would further endanger U.S. national security or the physical safety of his community.”<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
Prosecutors alleged that Teixeira attempted to destroy evidence before his arrest, which is part of the reason, they said, he shouldn’t be released.<\/p>\n
Law enforcement officers searched a Dumpster near his parents’ home, where he was arrested, and discovered a tablet, a laptop, and an Xbox gaming console, all of which had been smashed, and an iPhone box for a new phone, their filing said. He supposedly informed colleagues two days before his arrest that he had a new phone number and email address.<\/p>\n
The government, in its filing, also included social media posts purportedly from Teixeira saying that he would \u201ckill a [expletive] ton of people,\u201d that it would be \u201cculling the weak-minded,\u201d and he said he was tempted to make a minivan into an \u201cassassination van\u201d in February 2022. In March of this year, he reportedly described SUVs as \u201cmobile gun trucks\u201d and \u201c[o]ff-road and good assassination vehicles.\u201d<\/p>\n
Back when Teixeira was in high school, he was suspended when a classmate overheard him reference weapons, \u201cincluding Molotov cocktails, guns at the school, and racial threats,\u201d according to the filing, and the incident led the local police department to deny his firearms identification card application in 2018 and again in 2019.<\/p>\n
During searches of Teixeira’s mother’s and father’s residences, law enforcement officers found \u201cthe existence of a virtual arsenal of weapons, including bolt-action rifles, rifles, AR- and AK-style weapons, and a bazooka. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives \u201cseized a number of weapons\u201d from Teixeira\u2019s mother\u2019s home, but his father\u2019s weapons were not seized. Teixeira wants to go to his father\u2019s home if he\u2019s released, per the filing.<\/p>\n
Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder largely declined to answer questions from reporters regarding how Teixeira passed vetting requirements, given the details included in the prosecutor’s filing.<\/p>\n
The documents he’s accused of releasing rocked the U.S. intelligence community when news outlets reported on the contents of the documents. Much of the classified information pertained to the war in Ukraine<\/a>, while other files revealed the extent of the U.S. intelligence community’s spying on both allies and adversaries.<\/p>\n
CLICK HERE FOR MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n
Both the Air Force Inspector General and Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security Ronald Moultrie are investigating the leak and the department’s policies regarding the handling of classified information. While their investigations continue, the Pentagon has already begun restricting access to certain classified information. <\/p>\n
The Air Force announced on Wednesday the suspension<\/a> of both the commander and the detachment commander overseeing Teixeira’s unit.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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