United States prosecutors have accused the Air National Guardsman suspected of leaking secret Pentagon files of keeping an “arsenal of weapons” and making violent threats online, arguing that Jack Teixeira should remain in custody pending trial.

In a court filing late on Wednesday, authorities said Teixeira, 21, may still have access to secret documents and would pose a “serious flight risk” if released on bail.

During a court hearing on Thursday, a US federal judge did not make an immediate ruling on whether Teixeira should remain in detention or be granted a conditional release.

Judge David Hennessy expressed concern, however, that the 21-year-old’s knowledge of classified material might be valuable to a foreign government, noting that the defendant had copied some of the documents and may still remember the secret information “reasonably well”.

Charged with the unauthorised disclosure of classified national defence information in violation of the Espionage Act, Teixeira faces 25 years in prison “and potentially far more”, the prosecutors said.

“He accessed and may still have access to a trove of classified information that would be of tremendous value to hostile nation states that could offer him safe harbor and attempt to facilitate his escape from the United States,” their court filing reads. (Al Jazeera)

•PHOTO:This aerial footage screen grab shows Jack Teixeira taken into custody by FBI agents North Dighton, Massachusetts [AFP/WBZ via CBS]