US intel suspect Jack Teixeira searched ‘leak’ in classified system

The 21-year-old Air National Guardsman suspected of spilling a trove of classified US documents online frantically searched the word “leak” on his government-issued computer — on the same day the public found out about the intel breach, court records unsealed Friday allege.

Jack Teixeira started trawling through classified intelligence reports looking for the phrase on April 6, the date the New York Times published its first article detailing how secrets of the Ukraine war had been posted on Twitter and Telegram, according to an FBI affidavit.

Teixeira’s search was detected by an unidentified government agency “which can monitor certain searches conducted on its classified networks,” the affidavit says.

The search gave investigators reason to believe Teixeira was trying to determine whether anyone had discovered who was responsible for the leaks, the FBI alleges.

Teixeira, who was arrested outside his mother’s North Dighton, Mass., home on Thursday following a weeklong probe into the leak, is accused of accessing the materials at the Cape Cod base where he worked and then sharing them with members of his private Discord group. From there, prosecutors say, the documents spread across social media.

The government computer search, as well as Discord billing records and interviews with one of his fellow group members, helped lead investigators to Teixeira, according to the affidavit.

Authorities say Teixeira used his real name and home address for billing information associated with his Discord account, according to records obtained by the FBI from the social media platform.

The bureau also interviewed a fellow Discord user who was familiar with Teixeira’s online posts on Monday, the affidavit said. The unidentified user told the feds that a Discord username linked to Teixeira had started posting what appeared to be classified information since at least December of last year.

Teixeira, whom authorities describe as the leader of the channel, allegedly started typing out the documents to share with his online pals but later switched to taking them home and photographing them because he was “concerned that he may be discovered making the transcriptions of text in the workplace,” the affidavit alleges.

Images of the documents reviewed by The Post showed they were copies of briefing slides that had been photographed on a desk or table before being shared online. Some also had crease marks, indicating they had been folded over multiple times.

The new revelations came as Teixeira appeared in Boston federal court to be charged with unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information and unauthorized removal of classified information and defense materials.

Appearing before the judge in shackles and prison khakis, the Guardsman was ordered held until a detention hearing next week.

Teixeira didn’t enter a formal plea during Friday’s proceedings and only responded quietly when the judge informed him of his rights.

Anyone convicted of willfully transmitting national defense information can face up to 10 years in prison.