Topline
Jack Teixeira, the Massachusetts Air National Guard member accused of leaking documents about the Ukraine war online, pleaded not guilty of willful retention and transmission of classified information in federal court in Massachusetts on Wednesday, multiple outlets reported.
FILE – In this artist depiction, Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira, seated second … [+]
Key Facts
Teixeira, 21, has been in custody since his arrest in April and was indicted by a federal grand jury last week in what was one of the most significant disclosures of defense documents in years.
He was charged with six counts of willful retention and transmission of classified information.
Each charge Teixeira faces has a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.
Key Background
Teixeira joined the Air National Guard in 2019 and had held a top-secret security clearance since 2021. Prosecutors allege that, starting last January, he started writing down information from classified documents and photographing them to share on a private Discord server. In a statement about the indictment, Attorney General Merrick Garland said 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.” The documents shared contained information like U.S. officials’ predictions for the outcome of Ukrainian military efforts and revelations that key allies considered striking deals with the Russian military. It’s likely that hundreds of records became accessible to possibly hundreds of thousands of people through the leak. Teixeira’s defense lawyers have said he never intended for the classified documents that he leaked to Discord to become widely available.
Further Reading
DOJ Charges Ukraine Leak Suspect Jack Teixeira With Retaining And Transmitting Classified Information (Forbes)
Pentagon leaks suspect Jack Teixeira pleads not guilty to federal charges (CNN)
Jack Teixeira, Air National Guardsman, pleads not guilty to six federal charges (The Boston Globe)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/mollybohannon/2023/06/21/ukraine-leak-suspect-jack-teixeira-pleads-not-guilty-to-sharing-classified-documents/