Airman Who Leaked Files Is Indicted on Charges of Mishandling Secrets

A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira, who posted dozens of secret intelligence reports and other sensitive documents on a gaming server, on six counts of retaining and transmitting classified national defense information.

The filing of criminal charges against Mr. Teixeira, 21, comes two months after F.B.I. agents arrested him at his home in North Dighton, Mass., on April 13.

Mr. Teixeira has remained in federal custody after prosecutors presented evidence that he had a history of making violent and racist threats, had access to an arsenal of weapons and represented a risk of sharing sensitive information with foreign countries.

“The unauthorized removal, retention and transmission of classified information jeopardizes our nation’s security,” Joshua S. Levy, the acting U.S. attorney for Massachusetts, said in a statement. “Individuals granted access to classified materials have a fundamental duty to safeguard the information for the safety of the United States, our active service members, its citizens and its allies.”

“We are committed to ensuring that those entrusted with sensitive national security information adhere to the law,” he added.

Mr. Teixeira’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Before his arrest, Air Force officials caught Airman Teixeira taking notes and conducting deep-dive searches for classified material months before he was charged with leaking a vast trove of government secrets, but did not remove him from his job, according to previous filings in the case.

Glenn Thrush covers the Department of Justice. He joined The Times in 2017 after working for Politico, Newsday, Bloomberg News, the New York Daily News, the Birmingham Post-Herald and City Limits. @GlennThrush

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