Man Suspected of Leaking Secret US Documents Appears in Court

A federal police vehicle is parked outside U.S. District Court in Boston, Mass., Friday, April 14, 2023 as Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira appears for an initial hearing after being accused of leaking highly classified military documents. Teixeira appeared in court to face charges of unauthorized removal and retention of classified and national defense information. (AP)
A federal police vehicle is parked outside U.S. District Court in Boston, Mass., Friday, April 14, 2023 as Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira appears for an initial hearing after being accused of leaking highly classified military documents. Teixeira appeared in court to face charges of unauthorized removal and retention of classified and national defense information. (AP)
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Man Suspected of Leaking Secret US Documents Appears in Court

A federal police vehicle is parked outside U.S. District Court in Boston, Mass., Friday, April 14, 2023 as Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira appears for an initial hearing after being accused of leaking highly classified military documents. Teixeira appeared in court to face charges of unauthorized removal and retention of classified and national defense information. (AP)
A federal police vehicle is parked outside U.S. District Court in Boston, Mass., Friday, April 14, 2023 as Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira appears for an initial hearing after being accused of leaking highly classified military documents. Teixeira appeared in court to face charges of unauthorized removal and retention of classified and national defense information. (AP)

A 21-year-old member of the US Air Force National Guard accused of leaking highly classified military intelligence records online made his initial appearance before a federal judge in Boston on Friday to face charges he unlawfully removed and retained classified materials.

Jack Douglas Teixeira of North Dighton, Massachusetts, who was arrested by a team of heavily armed FBI agents at his home on Thursday, appeared in federal court wearing a brown khaki jumpsuit.

At the hearing, Boston's top federal national security prosecutor, Nadine Pellegrini, requested that Teixeira be detained pending trial, and a detention hearing was set for Wednesday.

The leaked classified documents at the heart of the investigation were posted online on a social media website in March and perhaps earlier, but news of their existence did not come to light until it was reported by the New York Times last week.

It is believed to be the most serious security breach since more than 700,000 documents, videos and diplomatic cables appeared on the WikiLeaks website in 2010. In the WikiLeaks case, the leaker - US Army Private First Class Chelsea Manning - was sentenced to 35 years in prison. Democratic President Barack Obama later commuted her sentence.

US officials are still assessing the damage done by the leaks, which included records showing purported details of Ukrainian military vulnerabilities and embarrassed Washington by revealing its spying on allies.

In a criminal complaint made public on Friday, Teixeira was charged with unlawfully copying and possessing classified defense records. Each offense can carry up to 10 years in prison.

He was also charged with another offense which makes it a crime for an employee of the United States to knowingly remove classified records to an unauthorized location.

In a sworn statement, an FBI agent said that Teixeira had held a top secret security clearance since 2021, and that he also maintained sensitive compartmented access to other highly classified programs.

Since May 2022, the FBI said Teixeira has been serving as an E-3/airman first class in the US Air Force National Guard and has been stationed at Otis Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts.

Teixeira only spoke twice during the brief proceeding, answering "yes" when asked if he understood his right to remain silent.

He also confirmed that he had filled out a financial affidavit, which the judge said shows he will qualify to be represented by a federal public defender.

The Justice Department opened a formal criminal probe last week into the current leaks, after a referral from the Department of Defense. The leak was a "deliberate, criminal act," the Pentagon said on Thursday, adding that the military had taken steps to review distribution lists and ensure people receiving information had a need to know.

It was not clear whether Teixeira had yet secured legal representation.

Reuters has reviewed more than 50 of the documents, labeled "Secret" and "Top Secret," but has not independently verified their authenticity. The number of documents leaked is likely to be over 100.

The investigative news outlet Bellingcat, the Washington Post and the New York Times have traced the documents' earliest appearance to a defunct server on the instant messaging site Discord. In a chat group on the site, Teixeira went by the handle OG and was admired by the group's mostly young members, who shared a love for guns and military gear.



Released Pro-Palestinian Protest Leader Sues Trump for $20 Mn

Former Columbia University student and pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil at a "Welcome Home" rally on the steps of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York, USA, 22 June 2025. (EPA)
Former Columbia University student and pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil at a "Welcome Home" rally on the steps of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York, USA, 22 June 2025. (EPA)
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Released Pro-Palestinian Protest Leader Sues Trump for $20 Mn

Former Columbia University student and pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil at a "Welcome Home" rally on the steps of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York, USA, 22 June 2025. (EPA)
Former Columbia University student and pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil at a "Welcome Home" rally on the steps of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York, USA, 22 June 2025. (EPA)

Mahmoud Khalil, one of the most prominent leaders of US pro-Palestinian campus protests, sued the Trump administration Thursday for $20 million over his arrest and detention by immigration agents.

Khalil, a legal permanent resident in the United States who is married to a US citizen and has a US-born son, had been in custody following his arrest in March.

The 30-year-old was freed from a federal immigration detention center in Louisiana last month, hours after a judge ordered his release on bail.

"The administration carried out its illegal plan to arrest, detain, and deport Mr. Khalil 'in a manner calculated to terrorize him and his family,' the claim says," according to the Center for Constitutional Rights which is backing Khalil.

Khalil suffered "severe emotional distress, economic hardship (and) damage to his reputation," the claim adds.

The Columbia University graduate was a figurehead of student protests against US ally Israel's war in Gaza, and the Trump administration labeled him a national security threat.

Khalil called the lawsuit a "first step towards accountability."

"Nothing can restore the 104 days stolen from me. The trauma, the separation from my wife, the birth of my first child that I was forced to miss," he said in the statement.

"There must be accountability for political retaliation and abuse of power."

Khalil has previously shared his "horrendous" experience in detention, where he "shared a dorm with over 70 men, absolutely no privacy, lights on all the time."

President Donald Trump's government has justified pushing for Khalil's deportation by saying his continued presence in the United States could carry "potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences."

Khalil's detention came amid Trump's campaign against top US universities in recent months, with the president facing off against Columbia, Harvard and other schools over foreign student enrollment while cutting federal grants and threatening to strip accreditation.

Beyond his legal case, Khalil's team has expressed fear he could face threats out of detention.