Former Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira will spend 15 behind bars and three years on supervised release for leaking highly classified military documents, the New York Post reported. The 22-year-old pleaded guilty to six charges under the Espionage Act for sharing the documents and other information on Discord.
Teixeira was convicted in March of retaining and transmitting national defense information that endangered national security. The information he shared embarrassed the White House as he contradicted the official narrative about the Ukraine war.
The young man's attorneys attempted to argue that his autism and ADHD diagnoses, which came after his arrest, warranted a lighter sentence. "Jack is still essentially a child – at the very least, a ‘youthful offender’ – who has his whole life in front of him," a memo from the attorneys to Boston federal court Judge Indira Talwani said.
The lawyers also claimed that he did not want to "harm the United States" but wanted to "educate his friends about world events" with classified information. "To Jack, the Ukraine war was his generation’s World War II or Iraq, and he needed someone to share the experience with."
As the New York Times reported at the time, Teixeira began sharing documents on a Discord chat room he designated as "Thug Shaker Central" just 48 hours after Russia invaded Ukraine. "Saw a pentagon report saying that ⅓rd of the force is being used to invade," he wrote.
When another user expressed skepticism, Teixeira bragged that he had "a little more than open source info" to back him up. "Perks of being in a USAF intel unit," he cited the United States Air Force.
Then, on March 27, 2022, Teixeira shared that Russia would retreat from Kyiv based on information he "found on an NSA site," suggesting he also could access National Security Agency data as well. "Some 'big' news," Teixeira bragged.
"There may be a planned withdrawal of the troops west of Kiev, as in all of them." The information checked out to be true as two days later, Russia announced it was to do just that.
Other information Teixeira is said to have shared includes casualty data that contradicted the Pentagon's official narrative as well as Russia's military strategy. All of this endangered lives and compromised the war efforts.
The Post noted that the defense's plea for clemency was mostly unheeded because of the nature of the betrayal. Teixeira's job as a cyber transport systems specialist with such high-level clearance meant he was entrusted with national security secrets.
"As both a member of the United States Armed Forces and a clearance holder, the defendant took an oath to defend the United States and to protect its secrets — secrets that are vital to US national security and the physical safety of Americans serving overseas. Teixeira violated his oath, almost every day, for over a year," prosecutors argued.
Prosecutors believe Teixeira posted information from Otis Air National Guard Base in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, using clearance he received from working on information technology systems for the Air Force. "The harm the defendant caused to the national security from his disclosures of national defense information is extraordinary," prosecutors noted.
"By posting intelligence products on the social media platform Discord to feed his own ego and impress his anonymous friends, Teixeira caused exceptionally grave damage to the national security of the United States. The scope of his betrayal is breathtaking," they argued.
This young man may have done untold damage to America's interests abroad while also undermining the credibility of officials in the U.S. Although it is sad to lock someone away as a young adult, the gravity of Teixeira's crimes certainly warrants it.
