Accused Pentagon leaker Jack Teixeira pleads not guilty to federal charges
Jack Teixeira, the Air National Guardsman accused of leaking top-secret Pentagon documents on social media, pleaded not guilty to six federal charges in a Massachusetts courtroom Wednesday.
The 21-year-old was indicted last week by a federal grand jury on six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense secrets.
Teixeira has been held in federal custody since his arrest in April after being accused of sharing troves of classified documents to members of an invite-only Discord group – a social media platform typically used by gamers — before they were later shared more widely.
The highly classified documents he was accused of disclosing included detailed intelligence assessments of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Texeira, wearing an orange jumpsuit and rosary beads, smiled and waved at his family when he entered the Worcester, Mass., courtroom Wednesday and stood with his lawyers before Magistrate Judge David H. Hennessy to enter his plea, according to CNN.
“We remain as committed as ever and our entire family continues to share complete and unwavering support of Jack as he faces this matter,” Jen Reed, a spokeswoman for the North Dighton, Mass., native’s family said.
“The important thing is Jack will now have his day in court. And as we move through this process, we are hopeful that Jack will be getting the fair and just treatment he deserves,” she added.
Teixeira enlisted in the US Air National Guard in 2019 and was granted top-secret security clearance in 2021, according to the Justice Department.
He worked as a cyber transport systems journeyman for the 102nd Intelligence Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard and was stationed at Otis Air National Guard Base in Cape Cod during the timeframe he has been accused of leaking national security secrets.
“As laid out in the indictment, Jack Teixeira was entrusted by the United States government with access to classified national defense information — including information that reasonably could be expected to cause exceptionally grave damage to national security if shared,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement after the indictment against Teixiera was unsealed last week.
“Teixeira is charged with sharing information with users on a social media platform he knew were not entitled to receive it. In doing so, he is alleged to have violated U.S. law and endangered our national security,” the attorney general added.
If found guilty on all charges, Teixeira could spend decades in prison.
His next hearing is scheduled for Aug. 9.
