Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old military man suspected of leaking a series of confidential American documents, including one about the war in Ukraine, remains in custody, Reuters writes.

He was scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday for a hearing to determine whether he will remain in custody pending trial.

However, his defense team requested that the judge adjourn the hearing for two weeks, saying they needed more time to study the case.

The 21-year-old, a member of the National Guard, was arrested on April 13 and appeared in federal court in Boston a day later on charges of “unauthorized storage and transmission of information relating to national defense” and “unauthorized removal and storage of classified documents or materials.” .

At the hearing, the top federal national security prosecutor in Boston, Nadine Pellegrini, asked that Teixeira be held pending trial, and a new hearing was set for April 19.

The alleged leaks of classified documents were posted on social media earlier this year, but news of their existence did not emerge until the New York Times reported them two weeks ago. It is believed to be the most serious security breach since WikiLeaks leaked more than 700,000 documents, videos and diplomatic information in 2010. U.S. officials are still assessing the damage caused by the leak, which included tapes purported to detail Ukrainian military and intelligence vulnerabilities. allies, including Israel, South Korea and Turkey.

Teixeira first released classified information in December 2022

According to court documents, Jack Teixeira allegedly began posting classified information on the Discord server back in December 2022, The Guardian reports. According to another user of the platform (identified as User 1 in the indictment), Teixeira initially posted the government information as “paragraphs of text.”

Then, around January 2023, he began posting photos of documents on the server that “contain what appear to be classification markings on official US government documents.”

• What is known about Jack Teixeira and how the documents got on the Internet

What punishment could he receive, given the WikiLeaks case

Anyone found guilty of intentionally passing on information about national defense faces up to 10 years in prison. Teixeira could face a longer term depending on the charges against him.

In the case of WikiLeaks, whistleblower Chelsea Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison. Later, Democratic President Barack Obama commuted the sentence.

Last week, the Department of Justice opened a formal criminal investigation into the ongoing leaks, following a referral from the Department of Defense. The Pentagon said the leak was a “deliberate criminal act,” adding that the military has taken steps to review mailing lists and ensure that only those who need it have access to the information.

Reuters reviewed more than 50 documents marked “Secret” and “Top Secret” but did not independently verify their authenticity. The number of leaked documents is likely to exceed 100.

How he got access to confidential information

Teixeira told members of his online Discord group that he was working as a member of the technical support staff at a base in Cape Cod, and through that he had access to classified documents.

Teixeira was stationed at Otis Air National Guard Base in Cape Cod, Mass., according to his military file. A squadron is located at the base, the tasks of which are related to intelligence services.

National Guard units provide some support services to military units, including intelligence support for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, according to The Washington Post.

Members of the Air National Guard’s 102nd Reconnaissance Squadron operate unmanned aerial vehicles that perform intelligence/surveillance/reconnaissance missions in support of the Air Force and ground combatants in locations such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and in support of special operations groups that can deploy secret missions anywhere. That means units need access to a wide range of intelligence gathering and analysis because they can operate in multiple theaters against multiple threats, CNN reported.

Teixeira’s military listing indicates he enlisted in the National Guard on September 26, 2019. He was drafted into federal military service last fall, National Guard Bureau spokesman Nahaku McFadden told The Washington Post.

It is not unusual for National Guard members to receive such orders to meet the need for specialized work, and because the suspect was on active duty at the time of the alleged actions, he will be subject to additional punishment under the military justice system, the US newspaper said.

Although Teixeira was relatively inexperienced in the military, he had access to top-secret military intelligence through a Defense Department computer network known as the Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System (JWICS), a US official told The Washington Post. The system would allow Teixeira to read and possibly print classified documents, although there are directives to handle such material according to the law.

Thousands of military and government officials in even lower ranks likely had access to classified documents like the ones Teixeira allegedly shared, according to U.S. officials and experts who have seen the documents released to the press.