So what comes next for Jack Teixeira, the Air National Guard member who dumped a large volume of classified data into the public eye? If federal prosecutors have their way, he won’t be doing much beyond cooling his heels behind bars. They are arguing today that Teixeira is a flight risk and there is no way of knowing what other classified material he may still have in his possession that he could leak out. They also suggested that he might “take refuge with a foreign adversary” to avoid the reach of U.S. law enforcement. Curiously, they also plan to argue that he “may still have access” to additional materials. The suspect is further being described as having a history of fantasizing about murder and violence, along with racist and hateful commentary. Teixeira’s attorneys supposedly plan to ask that he be released to home arrest at his father’s house. (Associated Press)

Federal prosecutors will urge a judge Thursday to keep behind bars a Massachusetts Air National guardsman accused of leaking highly classified military documents, arguing he may still have access to secret national defense information he could expose.

In court papers filed late Wednesday, the Justice Department lawyers said releasing 21-year-old Jack Teixeira from jail while he awaits trial would be a grave threat to the U.S. national security. Investigators are still trying to determine whether he kept any physical or digital copies of classified information, including files that haven’t already surfaced publicly, they wrote.

I’m not going to argue in favor of Teixeira being released on bail, but some of the concerns being expressed here seem rather odd. It seems clear that he had a habit of printing out classified material rather than simply dealing with digital documents, though he probably had both. But in a situation like this, wouldn’t the first action taken by law enforcement be to completely gut his apartment and seize every piece of paper or electronic device they could find? If they haven’t done that already, somebody didn’t have their eye on the ball.

Then again, the prosecutors make a valid point in saying that he might also have additional things in his memory that he could spill. But would he really run out and start dumping more documents publicly? By this point, he clearly must realize how badly he screwed up and the serious nature of the charges against him. It seems pretty obvious that Jack Teixeira wasn’t trying to sell secrets to the Russians or engage in some sort of espionage for a foreign adversary. He was trying to impress his gaming buddies. He was less of a master spy and more of an idiot.

The most curious part of the feds’ statements was the suggestion that he “may still have access” to classified material. Seriously? Are our military communications systems so porous that we don’t have the ability to shut down members’ accounts and block their access at a moment’s notice? If so, we have a much bigger problem than one moronic Air National Guardsman with loose lips.

Meanwhile, authorities are still wrestling with the extent of the damage that the leaks have caused. It’s not even known if all of the documents he released have come to light yet. (Boston Globe)

[Amy Zegart, an expert on US intelligence at the Hoover Institution] said the full impact of the leak is not yet known because documents allegedly shared by Teixeira are still coming to light. “We don’t know whether the bleeding has stopped,” she said.

Since the disclosure of the documents became widely known earlier this month, a steady drip of news reports and social media posts has publicized to millions of people secrets that were meant to be shared only with officials who had a “need to know.” Much of the material Teixeira allegedly shared concerned the war in Ukraine.

If none of the leaked material directly identifies any methods or sources, this may turn out to be more of an embarrassment for the White House and the Pentagon as opposed to a serious case of damaging our national security. It’s not as if the Russians and the Chinese don’t already know that we spy on them just as we know they spy on us. But this may represent an opportunity to tighten up our security systems and review how quickly new service members are given access to some of the most secretive material we possess. As for Jack Teixeira, I suspect he’s going to have a very long time to consider his actions, likely at Fort Leavenworth.