BOSTON — Jack Teixeira, the Massachusetts Air National Guard member accused of sharing highly classified military secrets with gaming buddies online, has been formally indicted on the charges.
Teixeira, 21, of North Dighton, was on April 13 arrested and charged by criminal complaint with retention and transmission of national defense information and unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or materials. U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge David H. Hennessy on May 19 formally ordered Teixeira held.
Now, on Thursday, a federal grand jury has indicted Teixeira with six counts of willful retention and transmission of classified information relating to national defense.
“The unauthorized removal, retention and transmission of classified information jeopardizes our nation’s security. 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,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy.
Teixeira — who became a guardsman in 2019 and has held top-secret security clearance since 2021 — is the leader of a Discord server, which is what the gaming-dominated social media platform calls individual groups or forums, with about 50 members.
The feds allege that in this group he posted more than 40 images of classified documents. The images were said to have been posted to the group between December 2022 and March.
“Jack Teixeira was entrusted by the United States government with access to classified national defense information — including information that reasonably could be expected to cause exceptionally grave damage to national security if shared,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland.
“Teixeira is charged with sharing information with users on a social media platform he knew were not entitled to receive it. In doing so, he is alleged to have violated U.S. law and endangered our national security.”
--------
