Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to keep Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira behind bars in his Pentagon leaks case, arguing that he could cause “extraordinary” damage by releasing even more classified documents.

In court papers filed late Wednesday, the Justice Department lawyers wrote that releasing the 21-year-old suspect while he awaits trial would pose a grave threat to the US national security as investigators are still trying to determine whether he kept any copies of classified files, including ones that have not been made public yet.

“There simply is no condition or combination of conditions that can ensure the Defendant will not further disclose additional information still in his knowledge or possession,” prosecutors wrote. “The damage the Defendant has already caused to the US national security is immense. The damage the Defendant is still capable of causing is extraordinary.”

[We can probably guess from this that Teixeira is not cooperating with prosecutors yet. It seems doubtful that they’d allow for bail even if he was, but the claim in court that they don’t yet have a handle on Teixeira’s classified material seems like a clear sign that he or his attorneys are playing some hardball. If they want the material back, it seems, they’ll have to cut a deal. That’s an understandable strategy, but it risks decades in prison. Probably better to just give it back and hope for the best, especially since the material doesn’t belong to him. — Ed]