US Airman Jack Teixeira To Appear In Court Over Intelligence Leak

Jack Teixeira was arrested by the FBI at his family home in Dighton, rural Massachusetts, on Thursday.

Dressed in shorts and a T-shirt, he was led away by heavily armed agents.

Mr Teixeira has been identified as the leader of an online chat group where the documents first emerged.

He is charged with the unauthorised removal and transmission of classified information. He will appear in court in Boston, Massachusetts later on Friday.

Dozens of leaked documents revealed US assessments of the war in Ukraine as well as sensitive secrets about American allies, embarrassing Washington and raising fresh questions over the security of classified information.

Mr Teixeira worked as an IT specialist in the intelligence wing of the Massachusetts National Guard, based at Otis Air National Guard Base in western Cape Cod.

The National Guard is a reservist wing of the US Air Force. They are not employed full-time in the military but can be deployed when necessary.

Mr Texeira’s official title is Cyber Transport Systems journeyman and he holds the rank of Airman 1st Class – a relatively junior position.

It is not clear what level of security clearance Mr Texeira had, but according to the Air Force website, employment in the role requires a single-scope background investigation (SSBI). That clearance is reportedly required for access to top-secret information.

It was not until intelligence material was posted outside the chat room group that Pentagon officials became aware of the leak, prompting a massive search for the culprit.

Aside from the age of the suspect, the motive is also thought to be unusual.

While Mr Teixeira is said to have harboured a scepticism of the government, friends said he was neither a whistleblower nor a foreign agent.

The Pentagon says it will re-examine how classified information is distributed, but a spokesman said it was “the nature” of the US military to entrust young service members with high levels of responsibility.