Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira appeared briefly in a Boston federal court on Wednesday after the hearing to decide if he should remain on remand until the trial was delayed, the Associated Press reported.
The 21-year-old Teixeira, who was arrested last Friday and charged under the Espionage Act for the unauthorized retention and transmission of highly-classified military documents, had been scheduled for a detention hearing this week. However, the hearing was postponed after the defense filed a motion for a 2-week delay.
A new date for the detention hearing has not been scheduled.
Teixeira appeared in court on Wednesday morning where he waived his right to a preliminary hearing. The handcuffed Air National Guardsman said nothing beyond providing yes or no answers to whether he understood the proceedings and his rights.
So far, he has not entered a plea.
Teixeira, who ran a chat room on Discord, shared top-secret information related to the war in Ukraine and other matters with members of the group. Despite his young age and low rank, the IT specialist has held a Top Secret security clearance since 2021.
On Tuesday, Air Force officials said they are investigating how one airman could gain access to and distribute potentially hundreds of highly classified records. In the meantime, the Air Force has removed the intelligence mission from the 102nd Intelligence Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard where Teixeira served.
On Wednesday, President Biden’s Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines and other senior intelligence officials briefed members from both the Senate and House intelligence committees on the leaked documents.
After the Senate briefing, some intelligence committee members said they still have questions about how such a breach could have happened and what is being done to fix the problem.
