Ukraine Document Leak Suspect Says Because Trump Is Free, He Should Be Too

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Jack Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard who pleaded not guilty to charges of sharing classified information last month, argued Monday that he should be released while awaiting trial, citing former President Donald Trump’s ability to be released while awaiting trial on his alleged mishandling of classified documents.

In this artist depiction, Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira, seated second from … [+] right, appears in U.S. District Court, in Boston, April 19, 2023. The Pentagon on Wednesday announced plans to tighten protection for classified information following the explosive leaks of hundreds of intelligence documents that were accessed through security gaps at a Massachusetts Air National Guard base. Texeira, 21, is accused of leaking the highly classified military documents in a chatroom on Discord, a social media platform that started as a hangout for gamers. (Margaret Small via AP, File)

Key Facts

A judge decided last month that Teixeira must remain behind bars until his trial because he poses a flight risk, something that Teixeira’s lawyers have taken issue with for months.

The lawyers asked Monday that a judge’s decision to keep the 21-year-old behind bars while awaiting trial be reversed, saying Teixeira does not have the financial capabilities or an incentive to flee the country.

The defense attorneys argued that in the case of Trump and his aide Walt Nauta, the defendants were not detained even though they had “extraordinary means to flee the United States.”

Both Teixeira’s and Trump’s respective cases have been charged under the Espionage Act—a fact which Teixeira’s lawyers pointed at to call the government’s argument for detention “illusory.”

Teixeira has been detained since April, when he was arrested for allegedly sharing documents related to the Ukraine-Russia war and other sensitive material with an online group on Discord.

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“Former President Trump and The Trump Organization own properties in multiple foreign countries, and former President Trump has access to a private plane,” the lawyers wrote in a filing. “Yet, the risk of flight posed by their knowledge of national security information, and their abnormal ability to flee, didn’t even result in a request that either surrender their passport.”

Key Background

Prosecutors allege Teixeira, who joined the Air National Guard in 2019 and eventually gained top-secret security clearance, wrote down and took photos of classified documents. Prosecutors further alleged that the information was shared on a private Discord server, later making its way onto social media. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in Teixeira’s indictment that he was “entrusted by the United States government with access to classified national defense information” that could “cause exceptionally grave damage to national security if shared.” Teixeira pleaded not guilty to six charges of willful retention and transmission of classified information. The charges faced by the detained airman carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.

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