Melissa Velasquez Loaiza
(CNN) Federal prosecutors asked a judge Wednesday to continue the detention of Jack Teixeira, the Air National Guardsman accused of posting a large number of classified documents on social media. Prosecutors said he posed a flight risk and the government was still grappling with the amount of classified information stolen.
In a court filing Wednesday night, prosecutors said the information Jack Teixeira allegedly took “far exceeds” what was reported, and that releasing him from jail could pose a serious threat to national security.
Teixeira, prosecutors alleged, viewed hundreds of classified documents, which the government said he might still have access to, and conducted hundreds more keyword searches “in what appears to be a deliberate effort to spread the secrets of this country.” .
“The defendant knows where the information is,” prosecutors wrote. “He knows how to access it. And based on his specialized computer skills, he presumably knows how to spread that information without being immediately noticed.”
Jack Teixeira waives his right to a preliminary hearing during a brief court proceeding
They continued: “Simply put, there is nothing a court can do to ensure that the defendant complies with his conditions of release, other than to take the defendant at his word. And defendant’s record of honoring similar types of settlements is abysmal.”
The filing is the most detailed review yet of what government prosecutors have discovered about the 21-year-old’s alleged efforts to steal and spread classified information. Teixeira is scheduled to appear before a magistrate judge in Massachusetts on Thursday, who will decide whether he will have to remain behind bars while awaiting trial.
Teixeira has not yet submitted a formal statement.
What we know about Jack Teixeira, the alleged leaker of classified Pentagon documents
The measure the Pentagon will take to prevent further leaks 1:05
Teixeira’s behavior after the leak
The filings also come with new suspicions about Teixeira’s conduct once the leak was made public, including the alleged destruction of his electronic devices and the acquisition of a new phone number and email address.
“The defendant not only stands accused of having betrayed his oath and his country, but, when those actions began to emerge, he appears to have taken a series of obstructive measures designed to thwart the government’s ability to determine the full extent of what he has done. obtained and the universe of unauthorized users with whom they shared these materials,” prosecutors wrote.
Those steps, prosecutors say, include telling others on social media to “delete all messages” and to “[si] someone is coming to look, don’t tell them a *****”.
In addition, prosecutors say that when police lost Teixeira’s home following his arrest, authorities found “a tablet, a laptop, and an Xbox game console, all of which had been vandalized” in a dumpster on the street. home. Prosecutors argued that this showed Teixeira’s willingness to destroy evidence.
Jack Teixeira arrested. (Credit: CNN)
In trying to keep him in custody, prosecutors argued that Teixeira is an “attractive candidate” for a foreign government to recruit in an effort to obtain classified information.
What we know about the big leak of Pentagon intelligence documents
“The same adversaries have every incentive to contact the defendant, seek additional information that they may have physical access to or knowledge of, and provide them with the means to help them flee the country to exchange that information.”
Prosecutors also express concern about Teixeira’s alleged history of violent threats, saying he “regularly made comments about violence and murder.”
In comments cited in court documents, Teixiera spoke of wanting to “kill a [improperio] a ton of people” because it would be “sacrificing the weak-minded” and discussed wanting to turn a minivan into a “murder van.” Teixeira allegedly also searched for the terms “Ruby Ridge,” “Las Vegas shooting,” “Mandalay Bay shooting,” “Buffalo Tops shooting,” and “Uvalde.”
At his home in Massachusetts, prosecutors say, Teixeira had access to an “arsenal” of weapons and accessories, including pistols, bolt-action rifles, shotguns, an AK-style high-capacity weapon, a gas mask, gun ammunition, backpacks tacticals and a “silencer-style accessory,” all of which he kept in his bedroom.
The CNN Wire
™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
