The Department of Justice (DOJ) is asking to keep Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira behind bars for the Pentagon data leaks, arguing that he could leak even more classified documents and cause “extraordinary damage.”
In court papers filed on Wednesday, federal prosecutors wrote that letting go of Teixeira would pose a serious risk to national security because of the ongoing investigation into whether he saved any copies of sensitive documents, including those that haven’t yet been made public.
Two commanders in the military unit in which Pentagon leak suspect Jack Teixeira worked, have been suspended. https://t.co/Yp9saLSCgk
— NBC News (@NBCNews) April 27, 2023
“There simply is no condition or combination of conditions that can ensure the Defendant will not further disclose additional information still in his knowledge or possession,” the DOJ lawyers wrote. “The damage the Defendant has already caused to the US national security is immense. The damage the Defendant is still capable of causing is extraordinary.”
Prosecutors also alleged that the 21-year-old may still have access to a trove of classified information that would be of enormous value to hostile nation states, offering him safe harbor and allowing him to flee the country.
In response, Texeira’s attorneys on Thursday denied that their client presents a flight risk and suggested that he be put under house arrest.
“The government’s [argument] in many respects engages in hyperbolic judgements and provides little more than speculation that a foreign adversary will seduce Mr. Teixeira and orchestrate his clandestine escape from the United States,” the lawyers wrote. “This argument is illusory. The government has presented no articulable facts to support these assertions.”
Apart from Teixeira, it is still a question whether anyone will be held liable for the leak. The issue also indicates dangerous flaws in our military and intelligence information distribution systems if someone in his position can so easily obtain and disseminate this kind of highly sensitive material.
Last month, President Joe Biden acknowledged the data leak after initially dismissing it as a minor concern for the government.
“While we are still determining the validity of those documents, I have directed our military and intelligence community to take steps to further secure and limit distribution of sensitive information, and our national security team is closely coordinating with our partners and allies,” Biden said.
