A Massachusetts federal court judge ordered Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira to remain in federal custody in connection with accusations he leaked top-secret Pentagon documents on social media and allegedly bragged about doing so.
Teixeira wore an orange, jail-issued uniform and shackles as he appeared in a Worcester, Massachusetts, federal court, where Magistrate Judge David Hennessy granted prosecutors’ motion to detain him, according to local news station WPRI.
Hennessy said Teixeira could further obstruct justice and is a flight risk.
The 21-year-old accused leaker has remained jailed since he was arrested last month.
His attorneys had asked that their client be released and allowed to stay at his father’s home.
They argued he would not flee, as he did not when the news of his alleged leaks grew to be national news, court papers show.
The cyber transport systems specialist allegedly shared hundreds of highly classified government documents to a Discord closed online chat group, including those related to the Ukraine war and other national security matters.
He was charged under the Espionage Act with unauthorized retention and transmission of classified national defense information.
Prosecutors described in court papers how Teixeira kept notes about top-secret details shared during meetings, which he later disseminated.
He was arrested April 13, when aerial photographs from his North Dighton home showed heavily armed federal agents and an armored vehicle advancing on the driveway and taking him into custody.
Images from earlier in the day of his arrest showed Teixeira apparently reading a book and lounging on the back porch of the home.
Prosecutors recently revealed Teixeira had been scolded in September and October for taking and saving notes during meetings, and was ordered not to conduct “any deep dives into classified
intelligence information.”
But he was allegedly caught in February “viewing content that was not related to his duties,” prosecutors added.
The sensitive material was allegedly shared to a Discord channel that discussed guns and gaming and consisted of at least 150 members.
He allegedly bragged about his access and once told friends he’d share “a f–k ton of information” related to US intelligence activities in Syria, China, Iran, Palestine and Israel, among others.
“Idgaf what they say I can or can’t share … [a]ll of the s–t I’ve told you guys I’m not supposed to,” he wrote, prosecutors said.
