Judge rules suspected Pentagon leaker Jack Teixeira will remain jailed before trial

A federal judge ruled Friday that Jack Teixeira, the Air National Guardsman accused of leaking classified Pentagon documents online, will remain in federal custody pending his trial. 

Magistrate Judge David Hennessy of the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts granted the government’s motion to detain Teixeira, denying the request from Teixeira’s lawyer to release him on bond. Prosecutors submitted a filing earlier this week urging Hennessy to keep Teixeira detained, saying foreign adversaries would “salivate” at the prospect of helping him evade the U.S. government. 

The 21-year-old has been charged under the Espionage Act with unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information and unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents. He has pleaded not guilty and faces significant prison time if convicted. 

Prosecutors suggested Teixeira’s character isn’t what he presented in the military hiring process. Teixeira’s attorney claimed Teixeira’s case can’t be compared to other Espionage Act cases, and argued that Teixeira “remained at his mother’s home and peacefully submitted to arrest upon the arrival of law enforcement” when he was arrested. 

Federal authorities had been searching for the origin of classified records that first surfaced on the social media site Discord, revealing sensitive government secrets about the United States’ interests abroad, including detailed information about the war in Ukraine.

The government alleges that Teixeira, who held a clearance allowing him to view top secret and sensitive compartmented information, obtained the sensitive government documents in early 2023.