US: Suspect behind intelligence leak facing federal charges

The suspect behind the major United States military intelligence leak was pressed with federal charges following their first appearance at a federal court. This comes as Washington has been facing a serious breach of security since 2010.

On Friday, the suspect, Jack Douglas Teixeira, a US Air National Guard member, appeared at a federal court in Boston, Massachusetts, a day after getting arrested by FBI agents in his home. The top federal national security prosecutor in Boston, Nadine Pellegrini, requested that Teixeira be detained pending trial, and a detention hearing was set for Wednesday.

A criminal complaint that was released to the public said Teixeira is charged with one count of breaching the Espionage Act relating to the unlawful copying and transmitting of sensitive defense material. Teixeira is also charged with one count of the unlawful removal of defense material to an unauthorized location. A conviction on the Espionage Act would result in up to 10 years in prison

Teixeira was arrested for leaking top-secret intelligence documents in what Washington calls the most serious breach of national security since the WikiLeaks scandal of 2010. The Pentagon has referred to the latest leak as “a deliberate, criminal act.” While the documents have been posted on a social media website weeks before, the leak was only made known last week in a New York Times report.

US President Joe Biden said on the same day he ordered investigators to determine how the leaker had access to such information. The information in the leaked documents included records that showed details of Ukrainian military vulnerabilities while embarrassing the US by revealing its spying on its allies. Biden also said in a statement that he was taking the necessary steps to tighten security.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, the judge overseeing the upcoming defamation trial between Fox News and Dominion Voting Systems announced a delay in the trial, pushing the trial to Tuesday instead. Dominion is suing Fox Corp and Fox News for $1.6 billion over its coverage of the 2020 presidential elections.

A source familiar with the matter told Reuters that Fox was looking to pursue settlement talks. The news outlet was sanctioned on Wednesday last week for withholding records until before the trial, giving Dominion another opportunity to gather evidence.