USA: Up to 10 years in prison for each leaked document, 21-year-old National Guard faces

Jack Teixeira, 21, the Massachusetts Air National Guard member who was arrested yesterday (13.4.2023) by the FBI for leaking the classified Pentagon Papers in an internet group dealing with video games and guns.

According to an FBI agent, the 21-year-old National Guardsman leaked the classified Pentagon documents to a group chat on the Discord platform, referred to in court documents as “Social Media Platform 1.”

Meanwhile, the Justice Department released the exact charges the 21-year-old faces, which are the unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information and the unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or related material.

Massachusetts Attorney General Merrick Garland said the 21-year-old would likely face charges under the Espionage Act, which could carry up to 10 years in prison per leaked document.

The information in classified documents

The leaked classified documents also related to the war in Ukraine, with some of them released as recently as 40 days ago. In them, the weaknesses of the Ukrainian military were presented, but also the possibility that the American military has to penetrate the Russian communication systems.

Some of them showed maps of Ukraine’s air defenses as well as information about internal squabbling within the Russian government over the number of Russian military casualties of the war.

His appearance in court

The 21-year-old appeared before the court in Boston to learn the gravity of the charges he faces. He was wearing handcuffs and a khaki prison jumpsuit, and shortly after 10:00 am (14.4.2023, local time), he learned of the indictment.

His family members were also there. His father shouted “I love you, Jack!”, with the 21-year-old replying “I love you too dad”.

Source: News Beast

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