US judge holds hearing in Teixeira leaked files case
A federal judge held a brief hearing Monday in the case of Jack D. Teixeira, the Massachusetts Air National Guardsman accused of leaking top secret information on the Internet.
Teixeira, 21, did not appear in US District Court in Boston before US District Court Judge Indira Talwani, who has been presiding over the case since Teixeira was indicted in June on six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information in violation of the Espionage Act.
Teixeira, of Dighton, has pleaded not guilty and has been ordered detained until his trial. Talwani scheduled the next hearing in the case for Sept. 22.
Teixeira’s lawyers have urged Talwani to overturn a ruling by a magistrate judge, who ordered Teixeira jailed without bail while awaiting trial after concluding he would pose a danger to the community and may flee if released.
In court papers, Teixeira’s lawyers argued that there is no legitimate basis for Teixeira to be held until his trial and drew parallels between his case and the prosecution of former President Trump and his aide, Walt Nauta, for allegedly mishandling classified documents.
All three are charged under the same law. Teixeira’s lawyers noted that prosecutors did not seek to have Trump or Nauta detained, although they had access to national security documents and the means to leave the country quickly.
“Yet, the risk of flight posed by their knowledge of national security information, and their abnormal ability to flee, didn’t even result in a request that either surrender their passport,” the defense lawyers argued. “The government’s disparate approach to pretrial release in these cases demonstrates that its argument for Mr. Teixeira’s pretrial detention based on knowledge he allegedly retains is illusory.”
On Monday, Teixeira’s lawyers agreed to file a revised brief within the next couple of days appealing Teixeira’s detention after Talwani chided them for filing one that was longer than allowed under court rules. Prosecutors will then have 10 days to file a brief opposing Teixeira’s release.
Teixeira was a cyber-defense operations journeyman assigned to the 102nd Intelligence Wing at Otis Air National Guard Base on Cape Cod who allegedly leaked hundreds of documents with classified military information about the war in Ukraine and other sensitive intelligence matters on Discord, a social media platform popular with gamers.
While prosecutors alleged he may have shared secret information as early as January 2022, Teixeira is charged with releasing the information between last April and November, records show.
His family has said they fully support him and ask that he be given a fair trial.