Intelligence

Justice Department Charges Suspected Leaker of Classified Documents

Hyemin Han
Friday, April 14, 2023, 11:22 AM

The 21-year-old from Massachusetts is charged with two counts having to do with unauthorized release of national defense information and classified material.

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On Friday, the Justice Department charged the Massachusetts Air National Guard member suspected of releasing sensitive U.S. documents on the gaming messaging platform Discord. Jack Teixeira is charged on two counts: unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information (18 U.S.C. § 793(b) and (d)), and unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or material (18 U.S.C. § 1924). 

According to the affidavit released alongside the criminal complaint, the FBI obtained records from Discord linking Teixeira’s full name and billing to the username and account he used to post the documents on the platform. Following his alleged leaking of the documents, the affidavit states, Teixeria conducted searches on government computers to try and gain information on the government’s inquiry into the leak.

You can read the criminal complaint, followed by the affidavit in support of an arrest warrant, here or below: 

 


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Hyemin Han is an associate editor of Lawfare and is based in Washington, D.C. Previously, she worked in eviction defense and has interned on Capitol Hill and with the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. She holds a BA in government from Dartmouth College, where she was editor-in-chief of The Dartmouth independent daily.

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