Closing summary
It is now 4pm in Washington DC. Here is a summary of the day’s key developments:
21-year-old suspect Jack Teixeira involved in the Pentagon leaks has been charged with two separate counts under the Espionage Act. One of the counts is unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information which “could be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of any foreign nation”.
Jack Teixeira allegedly began posting classified information onto a Discord server as early as December 2022, according to court documents. According to an FBI interview with another user on the platform (identified as User 1 in the complaint), Teixeira initially posted government information as “paragraphs of text”. Then, in or around January 2023, he allegedly began posting photographs of the documents onto the server.
Discord said that it is cooperating with law enforcement officials following the arrest of 21-year-old Jack Teixeira, who is believed to have been a leader in the Discord group chat Thug Shaker Central. “We are aware that law enforcement officials have arrested the individual accused of illegally posting classified material on our platform. We have cooperated with officials and remain committed to doing so as this investigation continues.”
According to a defense official who spoke to CNN, Jack Teixeira was assigned to a “24/7 operational mission” as part of the 102nd intelligence wing. The mission takes in intelligence from various sources and in turn “packages it into a product for some of the most senior military leaders around the globe”, according to the defense official, tweeted CNN national security reporter Natasha Bertrand.
Liz Cheney said on Thursday that far-right Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene should have her security clearance removed after Greene defended the 21-year-old suspect involved in the Pentagon leaks. “Marjorie Taylor Greene makes clear yet again that she cannot be trusted with America’s national security information and should not have a security clearance of any kind,” she said.
That’s it from me, Maya Yang, as we wrap up the blog for today. Thank you for following along.
Updated
Liz Cheney said on Thursday that far-right Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene should have her security clearance removed after Greene defended the 21-year-old suspect involved in the Pentagon leaks.
On Thursday, Greene tweeted: “When it comes to Ukraine, the Biden administration has lied to us from the very beginning,” following a post in which she said: “Jack Teixeira is white, male, christian and antiwar. That makes him an enemy to the Biden regime.”
In response, former Republican Liz Cheney said:
“Marjorie Taylor Greene makes clear yet again that she cannot be trusted with America’s national security information and should not have a security clearance of any kind.”
Updated
The court sketch of Jack Teixeira has been released, following his first appearance today at a federal court in Boston.
In court, Teixeira was reported to have been wearing a beige prison-issued outfit and was handcuffed, according to the Washington Post.
He appeared before magistrate judge David Hennessy of the US district court for the district of Massachusetts who asked Teixeira whether he understood that he has the right to be silent.
Teixeira replied yes, to which Hennessy said: “Your words can be used against you,” the Washington Post reports.
Towards the end of the proceedings, a man shouted, “Love you, Jack!” In response, Teixeira said, “Love you too, dad.”
Updated
There are several key takeaways of the charges against Jack Teixeira. Here a few as identified by the Guardian’s Hugo Lowell:
An unidentified user cooperated with the FBI investigation. The user revealed insights into the leaks, including how Teixeira had allegedly been posting classified information online as early as December 2022.
Teixeira posted the information knowing that he could get in trouble. At one point, he had allegedly stopped posting the classified information as plain text around January since he grew “concerned that he may be discovered making the transcriptions of text in the workplace”.
The FBI was able to identify Teixeira as the leaker within days after it subpoenaed Discord for Teixeira’s account details. The details included Teixeira’s name and billing address which reflected the same details on his military file.
For more takeaways, read here:
Updated
According to a defense official who spoke to CNN, Jack Teixeira was assigned to a “24/7 operational mission” as part of the 102nd intelligence wing.
The mission takes in intelligence from various sources and in turn “packages it into a product for some of the most senior military leaders around the globe,” according to the defense official, tweeted CNN national security reporter Natasha Bertrand.
Teixeira's job was not to be the one packaging the intelligence for those senior commanders, but rather to work on the network on which that highly classified intelligence lived. For that purpose, Teixeira would be required to have a TS/SCI clearance, the official said.
— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) April 14, 2023
“It’s not like your regular IT guy where you call a help desk and they fix your computer … They’re working on a very highly classified system, so they require that clearance,” said the official, Bertrand tweeted.
Updated
Republican far-right congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has defended the 21-year-old suspect accused of the Pentagon leaks, which in turn prompted backlash online.
“Jake Teixeira is white, male, christian, and antiwar. That makes him an enemy to the Biden regime. And he told the truth about troops being on the ground in Ukraine and a lot more,” Greene tweeted.
“Ask yourself who is the real enemy? A young low level national guardsmen? Or the administration that is waging war in Ukraine, a non-NATO nation, against nuclear Russia without war powers?” she continued.
One user replied, “Why do you support Putin invading Ukraine?”
Another wrote, “If mtg didn’t exist the kremlin would have to invent her.”
“Marge is a confederate soldier not an American public servant. She has taken over Congress and wants to destroy the nation from inside. She admits it. Her public agenda is reinstalling a criminal traitor she’s obstructing justice for and breaking up the United States of America,” wrote someone else.
Attorney general slams leak
“This is not just about taking home documents,” US attorney general Merrick Garland said about the Pentagon leaks.
“This is about … both the unlawful retention and transmission of the documents … There are very serious penalties associated with that. People who sign agreements to be able to receive classified documents acknowledge the importance to national security of not disclosing those documents and we intend to send that message to our national security,” he added.
Updated
Jack Teixeira charged under Espionage Act
The 21-year old suspect involved in the Pentagon leaks has been charged with two separate counts under the Espionage Act.
One of the counts is unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information which “could be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of any foreign nation”.
The other count is the unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or material.
On Friday, Teixeira appeared in a federal court in Boston to face his charges. He was told that he faced up to 15 years in prison if he is found guilty of both charges, the BBC reports.
According to court documents, “on April 6, 2023, Teixeira used his government computer to search classified intelligence reporting for the word “leak”.
“The first public reporting regarding the Government Information appeared on or around April 6, 2023. Accordingly, there is reason to believe that Texeira was searching for classified reporting regarding the US Intelligence Community’s assessment of the identity of the individual who transmitted classified national defense information to include the Government Document,” it added.
Updated
Earlier this week, “Social Media Platform 1”, as identified in the court complaint and appears to be Discord, provided the FBI with records pertaining to the investigation.
Those records included information related to Jack Teixeira’s social media account and “subscriber information for the administrator of Server 1 to which User 1 belonged”.
“According to these records, the individual using the Subject Username is the administrator of Server 1, the billing name associated with the Subject Username is “Jack Teixeira”, and the billing address associated with the Subject Username is a specific residence in North Dighton, Massachusetts.
Teixeira listed the North Dighton, Massachusetts, residence as his primary residence on employment paperwork with the US Air National Guard,” the complaint said.
Updated
Jack Teixeira allegedly began posting classified information onto a Discord server as early as December 2022, according to court documents.
According to an FBI interview with another user on the platform (identified as User 1 in the complaint), Teixeira initially posted government information as “paragraphs of text”.
Then, in or around January 2023, he allegedly began posting photographs of the documents onto the server which “contained what appeared to be classification markings on official US government documents”, said the court complaint.
According to the interviewed member, one of the documents that was posted described the status of the Russian-Ukraine war, including troop movements on a particular date.
“User 1 told the FBI that he spoke to the individual using the Subject Username at various times using a video chat application, voice calls, or the chat function on Server 1.
According to User 1, during one of those conversations, the individual using the Subject Username explained that he had become concerned that he may be discovered making the transcriptions of text in the workplace, so he began taking the documents to his residence and photographing them,” the complaint said.
Updated
Discord said that it is cooperating with law enforcement officials following the arrest of 21-year-old Jack Teixeira, who is believed to have been a leader in the Discord group chat Thug Shaker Central.
“We are aware that law enforcement officials have arrested the individual accused of illegally posting classified material on our platform. We have cooperated with officials and remain committed to doing so as this investigation continues.
While Discord places a premium on the privacy of our users, we believe that our platform best serves the needs of all when we collectively engage in responsible online behavior. Our Terms of Service expressly prohibit using Discord for illegal or criminal purposes, which includes the sharing of documents on Discord that may be verifiably classified,” a spokesperson of the social media platform told CNN in a statement.
CNN reports that the spokesperson also said Discord has banned users who are involved in the distribution of classified information and has deleted content that violate its terms of services.
Updated
Jack Teixeira has been detained pending a detention hearing which is set for Wednesday 19 April, the US attorney’s office in the district of Massachusetts said.
#BREAKING Jack Teixeira detained pending detention hearing set for Wednesday, April 19. Time TBD.
— U.S. Attorney Massachusetts (@DMAnews1) April 14, 2023
Updated
Jack Teixeira has appeared in federal court in Boston
Jack Teixeira has appeared in federal court in Boston.
The 21-year-old suspect has been charged with unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents and materials, according to the US magistrate judge, Reuters reports.
The judge said that Teixeira qualifies for a public defender and the justice department has requested that Teixeira be detained pending trial, Reuters reports.
Updated
Jack Teixeira will appear in federal court in Boston at 10am today, the US attorney’s office in the district of Massachusetts announced on Twitter.
#BREAKING Jack Teixeira will appear in federal court in Boston at 10am today in courtroom 18.
— U.S. Attorney Massachusetts (@DMAnews1) April 14, 2023
Teixeira will make his appearance in front of magistrate judge David Hennessy, the clerk of the district court in Massachusetts told CNN.
Updated
21-year-old suspect in Pentagon leaks to make first appearance in federal court
21-year-old Jack Teixeira will make his first appearance in a Boston federal court today following his arrest yesterday in North Dighton, Massachusetts, by a handful of FBI agents.
Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts air national guard, is accused of leaking sensitive documents pertaining to US intelligence and other countries. The leaked documents included revelations on Ukraine’s air defenses, South Korea and its ammunition concerns, Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, as well as Chinese interests in Nicaragua and a Russian Arctic struggle.
The Pentagon has labeled the leaks as a “deliberate, criminal act”. Meanwhile, US attorney Merrick Garland described Teixeira’s arrest as “in connection with an investigation into an alleged unauthorized removal, retention and transmission of classified national defense information”.
Garland’s language suggests that Teixeira may likely face charges under the Espionage Act. Under the act, each charge can carry up to a 10-year prison sentence.
The leaks are believed to have started on Discord, a popular social media platform among the gaming community. The Discord chat group which Teixeira is alleged to be part of, Thug Shaker Central, includes 20 to 30 young men and teenagers who post about guns, racist memes and video games. According to group members, the documents were shared in an apparent attempt to impress the group.
Teixeira was in the 102nd intelligence wing of the Massachusetts air national guard and had the duty title “cyber transport systems journeyman”, which involved maintaining functional internet at the airbases.
Earlier this week, president Joe Biden addressed the leaks during his visit to Ireland, saying:
“I’m not concerned about the leak … I’m concerned that it happened. But there’s nothing contemporaneous that I’m aware of that’s of great consequence.”
Updated
Suspect in Pentagon leaks to appear in court today
Good morning, US politics readers. The 21-year old suspect involved in the Pentagon leaks is expected to make his first court appearance in Boston today.
Jack Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts air national guard, was arrested yesterday by a team of FBI agents in North Dighton, Massachusetts. Teixeira is accused of leaking sensitive documents pertaining to US intelligence and other countries. US attorney general Merrick Garland said yesterday that Teixeira was taken into custody “in connection with an investigation into an alleged unauthorized removal, retention and transmission of classified national defense information”.
The leak, which has been described by the Pentagon as a “deliberate, criminal act” is believed to have started on Discord, a social media platform popular among the online gaming community.
The Discord chat group Teixeira is believed to be a part of is called Thug Shaker Central and includes 20 to 30 young men and teenagers who post about guns, racist memes and video games. Group members have told media outlets that the documents were merely shared in an apparent attempt to impress the group.
The investigation remains ongoing.
Here are other developments in US politics:
Florida’s Republican governor Ron DeSantis has signed a bill approving a six-week abortion ban in the state, which currently prohibits abortions after 15 weeks.
Supreme court justice Clarence Thomas failed to disclose a real estate deal he made in 2014 with Republican billionaire megadonor Harlan Crow, ProPublica reports.
The brain of the Louisville gunman who killed five people earlier this week will be tested for chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a neurodegenerative brain disease, his family told CNN.
