Pentagon leak suspect Jack Teixeira indicted and accused of mishandling classified documents

A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted Defense Department leak suspect Jack Teixeira on six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information.

Teixeira, who was arrested in April, is suspected of leaking classified Pentagon documents on Discord, a social media platform primarily used by online gamers, while serving as a Massachusetts Air National Guardsman.

“The unauthorized removal, retention, and transmission of classified information jeopardizes our nation’s security,” Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy of the District of Massachusetts said in a statement Thursday. "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."

According to the indictment, Teixeira held a top-secret security clearance starting around July 2021 and was trained in the definition, classification levels and proper handling of classified materials. It also said he “improperly retained and transmitted classified National Defense Information” on a social media platform.

An attorney for Teixeira declined to comment on the indictment.

Teixeira was previously charged with unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information and with unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or materials.

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Teixeira accessed classified documents including national defense information from a classified workstation at Otis Air National Guard Base, Massachusetts, and transcribed text in the documents, which he then published on the platform, the indictment alleges.

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He is also accused of taking photos of classified documents bearing markings that included classified designations and posting them on the platform.

Teixeira remains in federal custody. Prosecutors have argued that he poses a flight risk.