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Jack Douglas Teixeira, 21, appeared in a federal court in
Worcester, Massachusetts, for an arraignment after his arrest in
April over the disclosure of U.S. documents related to the
Ukraine war and numerous other sensitive issues.
Teixeira has been held in federal prison in Plymouth County,
south of Boston, while waiting trial. No trial date has been
set.
In a statement released after the arraignment, Teixeira's family
said they "are hopeful Jack will be getting the fair and just
treatment he deserves."
Prosecutors say Teixeira leaked classified documents to a group
of gamers on the messaging app Discord. The leak is considered
the most serious U.S. national security breach since more than
700,000 documents, videos and diplomatic cables appeared on the
WikiLeaks website in 2010.
The leaked documents on Discord held highly classified
information on allies and adversaries, with details ranging from
Ukraine's air defenses to Israel's Mossad spy agency. President
Joe Biden has ordered an investigation into why the alleged
leaker had access to the sensitive information.
Each charge of unauthorized retention and transmission of
national defense information provides for a sentence of up to 10
years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a
fine of up to $250,000, the Justice Department had said.
(Reporting by Rami Ayyub and Kanishka Singh; editing by Jonathan
Oatis and Alistair Bell)
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