BOSTON — Jack Teixeira, the Massachusetts man accused of leaking classified military documents, is once again arguing that he should be free from detainment, like former President Donald Trump, while awaiting trial.
Both Teixeira and Trump are charged under the Espionage Act.
In a new filing on Thursday, Teixeira’s attorneys say prosecutors have resorted to “semantic arguments” when it comes to keeping him behind bars while he awaits trial. “It is also notable that the government often declines to seek pretrial detention in other Espionage Act cases,” according to the defense filing.
Teixeira’s defense team says prosecutors are asking the court to assume, without evidence, “that multiple facts have been established: (1) that a foreign adversary is interested in information to which Mr. Teixeira has knowledge; (2) that a foreign adversary’s interest in that information is sufficient to cause it to smuggle Mr. Teixeira out of the country; and (3) that Mr. Teixeira would be willing to share information with whichever unidentified adversary that somehow smuggles him out of the country.”
“Every espionage defendant, from the former President to Mr. Teixeira, poses a hypothetical risk to national security by virtue of what they know, and because foreign adversaries theoretically have ‘effectively limitless’ resources to extract them from the United States,” says the defense in its filing. “However, the government argues without explanation that any comparisons between Mr. Teixeira and other defendants are misleading. The government’s refusal to engage with other espionage cases demonstrates that its arguments for detention lack context.”
Teixeira’s attorneys also say their client would not risk doing something while free, that could harm his own family.
Teixeira is a Massachusetts Air National Guardsman. He was indicted in June on federal felony charges and pleaded not guilty last month to six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information after being arrested at his family’s home in Dighton.
“Mr. Teixeira’s speculated risk to national security cannot justify his pretrial detention because there are release conditions that reasonably mitigate that risk. Mr. Teixeira is not likely to betray and financially ruin his family to become a lifelong fugitive, all for the benefit of a foreign adversary, and Mr. Teixeira Sr. is reasonably capable of discovering whether Mr. Teixeira is attempting to flee the country.”
Prosecutors have argued Teixeira should be held, pending his trial, despite his family ties.
In a filing earlier this month, prosecutors said “..the façade he presents of a family-oriented, law-abiding Massachusetts resident offers an enticing image. However, the detention proceedings before Magistrate Judge Hennessy shattered that veneer as illusion.”
“This Court should focus on the real Jack Teixeira. “ said prosecutors.
“The Defendant is accused of and faces overwhelming evidence of having committed one of the largest disclosures of classified national defense information in the history of our nation; provided top-secret information to foreign nationals adjacent to a theater of war; expressed support for a foreign terrorist organization committing a mass-casualty attack at the world’s largest sporting event; freely discussed and detailed how he would commit his own acts of violence; engaged in acts of deception and obstruction designed to thwart his own apprehension and prosecution; and lied to and manipulated those around him when it served his interests,” according to prosecutors.
Teixeira’s case returns to court in September for a pre-trial conference.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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