US: Classified military intel leak suspect kept gun locker in room, prosecutors say

The suspect accused of leaking top-secret US military intelligence records online was revealed to have kept a gun locker in his room, according to prosecutors in the latest court appearance. Prosecutors also cited that the suspect was known for making violent threats online.

The Air National Guardsman suspected of leaking top-secret military intelligence records online appeared before a federal court on Thursday, with US Magistrate Judge David Hennessy expressing concerns that the suspect, Jack Teixeira, and his knowledge of the classified material would prove valuable to a foreign government. Hennessy said that some of the information that Teixeira is accused of taking, “he actually copied,” but did not rule on whether Teixeira should be released into the custody of his father pending criminal trial.

Teixeira was arrested by the FBI on April 13 in his home in Massachusetts and was charged with violating the Espionage Act.

Assistant US attorney Nadine Pellegrini told the judge that it would not be impossible to imagine that Teixeira would not make himself available to those who want to see the information he held. Prosecutors have said that Teixeira leaked the documents, including some records related to troop movements in the war in Ukraine, to a group chat on the Discord platform.

In a court filing on Wednesday, prosecutors said Teixeira destroyed the evidence in the case while citing his history of making violent threats online and that he should remain detained pending trial as he poses a flight risk and is a threat. The filing also noted that Teixeira kept an arsenal of firearms in his room. FBI agents also found a gas mask, ammunition, and what looked like a “silencer-style accessory” in Teixeira’s desk drawer.

Meanwhile, the Senate Judiciary Committee has requested Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to provide details about the high court’s ethics practices, according to committee chair Dick Durbin.

The panel’s request follows the letter by Roberts to Durbin declining the invitation to testify before Congress at a hearing that would raise concerns about the potential conflicts of interest by the justices. This was in light of the reports of transactions involving Justices Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas.