US airman Jack Teixeira pleads guilty to Pentagon documents leak

An Air National Guard member has pleaded guilty to posting dozens of classified documents online in one of highest-profile intelligence leaks in recent years.

Prosecutors recommend that Jack Teixeira, 22, be sentenced to up to 16 years and eight months in prison.

While working at an Air National Guard base, he posted documents to Discord, a platform popular with gamers.

The material included maps, satellite images and intelligence on US allies.

Teixeira pleaded guilty to six counts of wilful retention and transmission of national defence information in a US federal court in Boston on Monday.

Each count carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. However, under the terms of a plea deal, prosecutors said they would ask for 200 months in prison – which Teixeira has agreed not to contest.

At minimum, he will serve 11 years and pay a fine of $50,000 (£39,000). Teixeira also agreed to be debriefed by intelligence and defence officials.

During the hearing he spoke briefly to confirm his agreement to the plea deal.

US prosecutor Joshua Levy told reporters that the government is seeking a “very serious sentence” in order to send “a powerful deterrent message”.

“One of the reasons this case is so serious is that once things are posted on the internet, shared on the internet, it’s almost impossible to track down what happens to every document,” Mr Levy said.

Teixeira’s attorney Michael Bachrach called his client “very much a kid” and said that his youth played a “significant role” in his actions.

Mr Bachrach said he hoped to be able to successfully argue for a jail term of 11 years at a sentencing hearing scheduled for 27 September.

Teixeira initially began sharing information in late 2022 to a small community of gun and military enthusiasts on a Discord server, or chatroom.

Initially the documents stayed within the group – and Teixeira expressed frustration that his online friends did not realise their significance – but the information was soon re-shared to more public channels.

Eventually, the documents spread to fringe message boards and bigger social media networks, and were picked up by pro-Kremlin Telegram channels and military bloggers.

Some copies of the documents were later altered by others, for instance to inflate Ukrainian casualty figures.

Teixeira was warned by supervisors after he was seen making notes while looking at classified documents, prosecutors said, and he posed specific questions based on classified intelligence during a briefing.

Teixeira was based at the Otis Air National Guard Base, near his home a little more than an hour south of Boston, Massachusetts.

He worked as a cyber defence operations journeyman – an information technology job maintaining the Air Force communications network – and held the rank of Airman 1st Class. Despite his junior role, he had a top-secret security clearance.

The leak prompted an investigation and led the Pentagon to examine its systems for handling classified information.

The Air Force disciplined 15 of its members in connection with the case in December.

A report from the Air Force’s inspector general said officers were aware of Texiera’s “intelligence-seeking activities” and failed to stop him, and that leaders in his unit knew of up to four instances of “questionable activity” involving his access to classified material.

Several officers knew of other incidents, the report said, but did not report them, fearing that security officials would “overreact”.

But the report also said Texiera’s supervisors did not know the full extent of his online activity.

Watch: How damaging are Jack Teixeira’s US intelligence leaks?

The report said there was a lack of supervision during overnight shifts at the base, when a three-person crew was responsible for answering phones and ensuring the heating and air conditioning systems were operating. Teixeira would print and smuggle out classified documents when working those shifts. Screenshots of the classified information appeared to showed creased printouts photographed at his home.

In court filings, prosecutors said Teixeira was once suspended from high school after a classmate overheard him making racial threats and discussing weapons. Even though Teixeira said he was talking about a video game, local police then denied him a firearms identification card needed to purchase weapons.

He was eventually approved, however, and authorities found a number of guns when they searched his house after his arrest.

Prosecutors also said he attempted to destroy evidence, smashing his tablet, laptop and Xbox and encouraging members of a Discord chat room to delete their messages as authorities closed in.

Teixeira’s family has a history of military service. His stepfather served 34 years in the Air Force, and his mother previously worked for non-profit organisations focused on veterans. Both attended his plea hearing on Monday.

In a statement the family said Teixeira was “a good person” who has “has taken responsibility for his part in this”.

They said the Air Force Inspector General report revealed “shocking details” about lack of training and oversight at the base, and that they hoped “substantive changes are made to stop this from ever happening again.”

source: BBC