Jack Teixeira, a member of the U.S. Air Force National Guard, is detained by FBI investigators as part of a probe into the internet breaches of sensitive secrets,
A 21-year-old member of the U.S. Air Force National Guard who is suspected of posting highly sensitive military intelligence information online will make his maiden court appearance.
The FBI made a non-violent arrest of Jack Douglas Teixeira on Thursday at his residence in North Dighton, Massachusetts.
The investigation’s key records were put online on a social media platform in March, and maybe even earlier, but the public was unaware of their existence until the New York Times broke the story last week.
Since more than 700,000 documents, videos, and diplomatic cables were published on the WikiLeaks website in 2010, it is thought to be the most serious security breach.
U.S. officials are still determining the extent of the harm caused by the leaks, which included documents allegedly revealing Ukrainian military weaknesses and secrets about allies like Israel, South Korea, and Turkey.
Teixeira’s charges have not yet been made public, but U.S. Attorney Merrick Garland announced on Thursday that Teixeira was being detained in connection with “an investigation into alleged unauthorized removal, retention, and transmission of classified national defense information.”
The maximum sentence for intentionally disseminating sensitive material on national defense is ten years in jail. Depending on the allegations levied against Teixeira, he can receive a longer sentence.
U.S. Army Private First Class Chelsea Manning, the leaker in the WikiLeaks case, received a 35-year prison term. Later, Democrat Barack Obama commuted her sentence.
Following a referral from the Department of Defense, the Justice Department this week began a formal criminal investigation into the recent disclosures. The Pentagon declared on Thursday that the leak was a “deliberate, criminal act,” and that the military had taken efforts to review distribution lists and make sure that only those who needed to know were receiving information.
It was unclear if Teixeira had retained counsel as of yet.
More than 50 of the classified documents, marked “Secret” and “Top Secret,” have been seen by Obasanjonews.com, but their validity has not been independently confirmed. Over 100 documents have probably been leaked.
The United States is still attempting to have WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange extradited from London so that he can be charged with crimes related to the 2010 disclosure.
reporting by Tim McLaughlin in Boston and Sarah N. Lynch in Washington Don Durfee and Alistair Bell did the editing.
