Massachusetts guardsman Jack Teixeira appears in court in leaked document case
BOSTON – The Massachusetts air national guardsman charged with leaking top secret documents briefly faced a judge Wednesday, though a hearing to determine if he will receive bail was postponed.
Jack Teixeira has been behind bars since his first appearance Friday.
He was scheduled to be back in Boston federal court for a detention hearing, but it was postponed. A separate hearing lasted only a few minutes as Teixeira appeared in the courtroom in a jumpsuit and handcuffs.
During the brief appearance, Teixeira confirmed to the judge that he was waiving his right to a preliminary hearing.
Just hours before the scheduled detention hearing, a federal judge granted the defense team's request to delay that part of the proceedings by about two weeks. Attorneys made the request because "the defense requires more time to address the issues presented by the government's request for detention."
Members of Teixeira's family did not answer questions on their way out of the courthouse.
The federal court appearance took place as the Cape Cod base had its intelligence mission pulled.
On Friday, the 21-year-old was charged with two counts under the espionage act for allegedly taking and transmitting top secret documents.
On Thursday, he was arrested by heavily armed agents outside his home in Dighton.
Authorities said Teixeira posted highly classified materials in a private chat on a social media site, some of which included the current status of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and other national secrets.
Teixeira was based at the Otis Air National Guard base on Cape Cod and supported cyber defense operations. Now, his unit has been put on pause.
"Stripping an organization of its core mission can take on a pejorative or negative connotation," Lt. Col. Paul Lushenko of the U.S. Army said. "But in this case, from a leadership optic and managing the risk to mission risk to force risk to reputation, I think this is a really prudent measure."
Military experts say there is no threat to national security while the intelligence work at the Cape Cod base is on hold.