Newly released charging documents show that 21-year-old Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira was able to access highly sensitive intelligence documents because he had been granted a Top Secret security clearance.
According to FBI special agent Paul Lueckenhoff, Teixeira received his security clearance in 2021 when he was still a teenager.
"Based on my training and experience, I know that to acquire his security clearance, Teixeira would have signed a lifetime binding non-disclosure agreement in which he would have had to acknowledge that the unauthorized disclosure of protected information could result in criminal charges," writes Lueckenhoff in the charging documents. "In addition to Teixeira's Top Secret clearance, he maintained sensitive compartmented access (SCI) to other highly classified programs. He has also had this access since 2021."
Teixeira set off a firestorm earlier this month when he allegedly posted photos of top-secret intelligence assessments about the war in Ukraine and other global affairs on a Discord chatroom.
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Even though intelligence officials have said that the leak of the documents is highly damaging to American national security interests, Teixeira has nonetheless earned the praise of far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who complained about him being "treated like a criminal" despite the fact that he is alleged to have committed crimes.
