The hearing to determine whether the Massachusetts Air National Guardsman accused of leaking a trove of classified documents should remain in jail while awaiting trial has been postponed.
21-year-old Jack Teixeira had been scheduled for a detention hearing in Boston’s federal court on Wednesday, but the judge canceled it after Teixeira's lawyers filed a motion saying they needed more time to prepare their case.
The Air Force, the Pentagon, and the Department of Justice are currently investigating Teixeira, who is accused of leaking a trove of highly classified documents — including documents pertaining to the war in Ukraine — on the social platform Discord.
Prosecutors: Alleged Pentagon leaker poses national security threat
Prosecutors also say they found evidence Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira researched mass shootings online and posted about it on social media.
Last week, Teixeira was charged under the Espionage Act with possessing and disseminating highly classified national defense documents without authorization. Teixeira was ordered to remain in custody until Wednesday’s hearing, which has now been postponed, and no new date has been set yet. Teixeira has not entered a plea.
The Senate is also looking for answers.
Sen. Susan Collins asked why someone of Teixeira’s age and status would be able to access those classified documents.
"The first thing that came to my mind is, whatever happened to need-to-know? That is the principle that is supposed to oversee and restrict access to sensitive, classified information," said Collins.
Air Force leaders agree with this sentiment, and are now investigating how a lone airman could access and distribute the documents.
"We need to enforce it much more rigorously than it appears to have been in this case. I will say that we don't know all the facts here yet. There is a criminal investigation going on," said Secretary of Air Force Frank Kendall on enforcing restrictions on access to classified information.
Last week, President Joe Biden directed the military and intelligence community to "take steps to further secure and limit" the distribution of classified information.
