Pentagon leaker Jack Teixeira to face military court-martial, Air Force says
Written by ABC Audio All Rights Reserved on July 20, 2024
(WASHINGTON) — Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira, who pleaded guilty to federal offenses for leaking sensitive information online, will now face a military court-martial, according to the U.S. Air Force.
No trial date has been set yet for the military legal proceedings, which will take place at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts.
Teixeira faces charges alleging he violated the Uniform Code of Military Justice, according to a statement from the Air Force.
The first charge alleges he failed to obey an order to “cease and desist from accessing information not pertaining to his duties” on or about Sept. 15, 2022, and on or about April 13, 2023, according to the statement.
The second charge alleges that he “dispose[d] of an iPad, computer hard drive, and cell phone, with intent to obstruct the due administration of justice in the case of himself” sometime between March 1, 2023, and April 13, 2023, according to the statement. It also alleges he similarly directed another person to delete Discord messages he sent “with intent to obstruct the due administration of justice in the case of himself” on or about April 7, 2023.
Teixeira was indicted by a federal grand jury last year on six counts of willful retention and transmission of classified information relating to the national defense. Federal prosecutors said Teixeira “accessed and printed hundreds of classified documents” and posted images of them on Discord prior to his arrest in April 2023.
He pleaded guilty to all six charges and agreed to accept a 16-year prison sentence in March. In exchange, prosecutors agreed not to charge him with additional counts under the Espionage Act.
His sentencing is set for Sept. 27.
The U.S. military reserves the right to separately prosecute a service member who has already been convicted in a federal court.
An Air Force evidentiary hearing was held in May to determine whether his case should move forward to an Air Force court-martial.
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