A 21-year-old soldier, Jack Teixeira, suspected of being behind the leak of a series of confidential American documents on the war in Ukraine, which embarrasses Washington, was charged this Friday by the federal justice.
This Air National Guard employee, presented Friday in federal court in Boston, was charged with "
unauthorized retention and transmission of information relating to national defense
", and "
unauthorized removal and retention of documents or classified materials
,” according to a court document.
The young soldier was taken into custody pending a new hearing scheduled for Wednesday.
In the aftermath of his “
uneventful
” arrest at his home Thursday in Dighton, a small rural Massachusetts town, all eyes were on the Air National Guard member, who worked out of a base on Cape Cod, on the east coast. .
Since Thursday, the aerial images of the arrest of the young man in a t-shirt and shorts, slowly stepping back with his hands on his head towards the armed officers, or his photo in uniform, looking a little frail, holding a mobile phone in front of him, have turned into loop.
“Very serious risk”
Jack Teixeira is suspected of having posed a "
very serious
" risk to the national security of the United States, according to the Pentagon, by disclosing confidential documents online about the war in Ukraine and which also suggest that Washington collects information on its closest allies, including Israel and South Korea.
A most embarrassing affair for the government of President Joe Biden, who said he
was "concerned that it happened
" from Ireland, where he is visiting.
The young man, who faces years in prison, is suspected of having shared his information on a private online group of the social network Discord.
The group, in which Jack Teixeira played the role of leader under the pseudonym "
OG
", was made up of around 24 people, including some from Russia and Ukraine.
It was formed in 2020 around a mutual passion for firearms, military equipment and religion, according to the New York Times and the Washington Post.
The National Guard said Jack Teixeira enlisted in September 2019, worked as a computer and communications specialist and achieved the rank of first class enlisted, the third lowest in the hierarchy.
“
OG
” had asked other members of the Discord group not to distribute the documents, assuring that he had no intention of being a whistleblower, according to the Washington Post.
He was critical of the state - whose "
abuse of power
" he denounced -, the police and the intelligence community.
According to the
Washington Post
, "
OG
" told the other members of the group that
The White House said Thursday that the United States was examining the "
implications
" of this leak "
for national security
".
The US executive also said he wanted social networks to “
avoid facilitating
” the distribution of such confidential documents, believing that they had “
a responsibility towards their users and the country
”.
Authenticity
A Discord spokesperson told AFP that the safety of its users was the platform's priority, ensuring that it cooperated with law enforcement.
The fact that these documents circulate online represents "
a very serious risk to national security and has the potential to fuel disinformation
", Pentagon spokesman Chris Meagher said on Monday.
Defense Minister Lloyd Austin on Thursday hailed the "
swift arrest
" of the suspect in a statement, adding that he had ordered an "
audit of access to our intelligence
".
The documents posted online reveal in particular the concerns of the American intelligence services as to the viability of a Ukrainian counter-offensive against Russian forces.
A document reviewed by AFP also noted US concerns about Ukraine's ability to continue to defend itself against Russian strikes.
Dozens of photos of these documents have been relayed on Discord, but also Twitter and Telegram, some having undoubtedly circulated for weeks, if not months, before attracting the attention of the press.
However, US authorities have not publicly confirmed the authenticity of these documents posted online, and it has not yet been independently verified.
Many of these documents are no longer available on the sites where they originally appeared.