Jack Teixeira, the National Guard airmen suspected of leaking reams of secret intelligence documents online, scrambled to cover up evidence of the leaks, according to new filings entered into his case Wednesday night.
The U.S. government labeled Teixeira a flight risk and an ongoing threat to national security in a Wednesday court filing ahead of the airman’s expected detention hearing on Thursday. The 18-page document raised concerns about Teixeira’s willingness to renege on agreements he signed against disseminating classified intelligence, citing steps he took to scrub traces of his name from the online leaks, as well as destroying physical evidence of his involvement.
“The nature of the materials that the Defendant accessed — not all of which have publicly surfaced — have the capacity to cause additional exceptionally grave damage to the U.S. national security if disclosed. In addition, the Defendant’s troubling history raises serious concerns about what he would do if released into the community,” the filing states. (RELATED: Secretary Austin Does Damage Control For Document Leaks In Meeting With Allies)
Prosecutors said that Teixeira may still be able to access highly sensitive information and continue to post it online or potentially funnel it to a foreign adversary in exchange for assistance in fleeing the country, according to the filings. If convicted, Teixeira could face up to 25 years in prison. Defense attorneys had advocated for allowing Teixeira to live in his father’s home, the prosecutors indicated.
The filing and evidence provided by the FBI agent on the case demonstrate Teixeira’s eleventh-hour dash to avoid being caught after discovering that pro-Russian Telegram channels shared some of the photographs he posted in a private social media group on the Discord platform.
“If anyone comes looking, don’t tell them shit,” Teixeira apparently told one other participant on April 7 in the original thread where he typed up and posted the documents for months, according to records from Discord obtained by the FBI investigator. “Whenever you get this, try to delete all my messages in civil discussions…Especially those not in the thread.”
Investigators found a destroyed tablet, laptop and gaming console in a dumpster outside of Teixeira’s house following his arrest, which “appeared calculated to delay or prevent the government from gaining a full understanding of the seriousness and scale of his conduct,” according to the government filing.
In November, when a member of the Discord group raised concerns about Teixeira’s repeated disclosure of classified information on the Discord chat, the National Guard airman expressed confidence he wouldn’t be discovered. “I have plausible deniability and non[e] of them know anything incriminating about me… no one knows where I work and no one knows how to identify me,” he said.
FILE PHOTO: Photo evidence collected during the investigation into U.S. Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira, who is accused of leaking classified documents online, is released in a document by the U.S. Department of Justice. Department of Justice/Handout via REUTERS
The court documents also revealed Teixeira entertained a fascination with weapons and mass casualty events.
“I hope [ISIS] goes through with their attack plan and creates a massacre at the World Cup,” he wrote in November 2022, according to the FBI investigator.
Teixeira’s attorneys did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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