Air National Guard Member to Plead Guilty in Pentagon Leak Case

Jack Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, is reportedly set to change his plea to guilty in a case involving the leaking of documents related to the Ukraine war. This decision comes as part of a plea deal, according to sources familiar with the matter. While specific details of the plea deal have not been disclosed, Teixeira is expected to enter his guilty plea on Monday.

Teixeira had previously pleaded not guilty to six counts of willful retention and transmission of classified information in June. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. The case alleges that Teixeira began taking information from classified documents and photographing them to share on a private Discord server starting in January 2022. However, Teixeira’s lawyers have argued that he never intended for the classified documents to be widely available.

The leak, which occurred last April, has been described as one of the most significant disclosures of defense documents in years. Prosecutors claim that the information Teixeira posted from classified documents onto Discord was later shared on social media. These documents reportedly contained information about U.S. officials’ predictions for the outcome of Ukrainian military efforts and revelations that key allies considered striking deals with the Russian military.

Teixeira, who joined the Air National Guard in 2019, has been in federal custody since his arrest. Attorney General Merrick Garland, in Teixeira’s indictment filed in June, stated that Teixeira was “entrusted by the United States government with access to classified national defense information” that could “cause exceptionally grave damage to national security if shared.”