U.S. military

Discord leaker Jack Teixeira sentenced to 15 years for sharing U.S. secrets

Author: Stephanie Morales and Dan Lamothe Source: The Washington Post

November 13, 2024 at 09:04

Jack Teixeira pleaded guilty in March to the willful retention and transmission of national defense information. (Social media website/Reuters)

His case rocked the national security establishment, revealing the speed and ease with which top-secret materials can spread online.

BOSTON — Jack Teixeira, the Massachusetts Air National Guard member responsible for a sprawling leak of classified information, was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in prison in a case that shook the U.S. national security community and exposed the ease with which government secrets can spread online.

Teixeira arrived in U.S. District Court here with a buzz cut and wearing an orange jumpsuit, appearing before Judge Indira Talwani after pleading guilty in March to six federal charges, including the willful retention and transmission of national defense information that the U.S. government classified as top secret. Teixeira, who turns 23 next month, had asked for a prison sentence of 11 years; prosecutors sought a sentence of nearly 17.

Teixeira addressed the court briefly, apologizing in a voice that was at times shaky.

“I wanted to say that I’m sorry for all of the harm that I’ve caused and wrought, to my friends, family and those overseas. I don’t think I can really sum up how contrite I am,” Teixeira said. “I understand all of my responsibility and the consequences fall upon my shoulders.”

“I accept whatever that may bring. I’m at your mercy, Your Honor,” Teixeira concluded.

As part of the sentence, Talwani said that, upon his release from prison, Teixeira would be prohibited from holding a job that would afford him access to sensitive information. The judge said, too, that she would recommend he be allowed to serve his sentence near his family’s home in the southeastern Massachusetts town of Dighton.

“I wish you good luck as you move forward,” she told him. Teixeira thanked her and, as he was led from the courtroom, briefly turned to his parents and said “See you later.”

Teixeira was an information technology specialist at Joint Base Cape Cod in Massachusetts when he smuggled out images of hundreds of classified documents and posted them on Discord, a chat platform popular with video gamers. Those materials revealed government assessments of the war in Ukraine, plotting by terrorist groups, and espionage efforts by China against the United States and its allies, endangering American personnel overseas, prosecutors emphasized, while rattling Washington’s relationships with several foreign capitals.

Participants in the Discord group described Teixeira as a charismatic gun enthusiast who initially posted detailed information about current events before sharing the classified documents themselves. From Discord, some of the materials made their way onto more mainstream social media platforms, prompting a criminal investigation in April 2023 and a separate Air Force review to determine how such a stunning lapse in security could have occurred. Teixeira has been in custody since his arrest that month.

Teixeira enlisted in September 2019 and received his security clearance in 2021. Within months, in January 2022, he began divulging government secrets online, authorities said. Shortly before his arrest in April 2023, they said, he attempted to cover up his actions, destroying electronic devices, deleting online accounts, and telling online friends to do the same.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jared Dolan on Tuesday likened Teixeira to Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning and others who have leaked government secrets. Teixeira, Dolan said, “became a threat and the damage he caused is historic,” aiding adversaries and harming relationships with U.S. allies.

“Jack Teixeira will be a cautionary tale for the men and women of the United States military and clearance holders in the government,” Dolan said. “The sentence imposed must adequately tell those individuals they should not even think about doing what he did.”

The acting U.S. attorney for the District of Massachusetts, Joshua Levy, said during a news conference after the sentencing that Teixeira “paid a very heavy price for the laws he broke.”

“He put himself above his country,” Levy said. “Today, justice was served for those who serve our country and who put their lives on the line.”

Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement Tuesday evening that Teixeira’s “profound breach of trust” endangered security for the United States and its allies. “This sentence demonstrates the seriousness of the obligation to protect our country’s secrets and the safety of the American people,” Garland said.

Teixeira’s attorney Michael Bachrach sought to downplay his client’s actions, telling the court Tuesday that Teixeira did not intend to distribute information to foreign adversaries and instead wanted to share information with friends online. The airman, he said, was obsessed with telling the truth and did not care about whom he put at risk.

The judge appeared to reject that argument, saying Bachrach had convinced her of “the defendant’s obsessive need to talk, not of his obsessive truth-telling.”

Military officials disciplined at least 15 people after finding that a “lack of supervision” and a “culture of complacency” had permitted Teixeira to sneak photographs of classified information out of his workplace despite colleagues having raised concerns after he was observed looking up government secrets to which his military job did not require access.

Teixeira’s civilian lawyers, along with Teixeira’s family, had appealed to the judge for leniency, revealing in documents filed in federal court in October that the airman was autistic and alleging he was the target of bullying while in high school and within his military unit, the 102nd Intelligence Wing.

“While I know Jack has taken responsibility for his actions and is extremely sorry for what he did, as a career Airman, I can’t fully express the disappointment I feel that his first experience in the Military was adverse and detrimental to his future, when it should have been one of positive mentorship and strong guidance that could have mitigated this situation,” his stepfather, Thomas Dufault, a retired National Guard member who previously served in the same unit as Teixeira, told the court in a letter.

The judge told Teixeira that it appeared his autism “has affected your ability to make friendships and to understand other people’s hurts.” She voiced skepticism about the bullying allegations, noting the Air Force disciplined people for not doing more to take steps “that might have stopped him from doing this.”

Talwani assessed that while “the fact that others did not do more to stop you is truly unfortunate,” it “doesn’t make the crime any less.”

“You probably know better than my generation how easily things are disseminated online,” the judge added.

Officials at Air Force headquarters referred questions about the bullying allegations and autism diagnosis to the Massachusetts National Guard. In a statement, Guard officials said that they were not aware of any history of bullying involving Teixeira and that they promote a zero-tolerance policy against bullying, harassment and hazing.

Prospective service members are required to provide accurate, full disclosures of their medical history, including any diagnosis of autism, to determine their eligibility for service, officials said. During his enlistment, neither Teixeira nor his mother, Dawn Dufault, disclosed a diagnosis of autism, which would be in violation of military enlistment regulations, the statement said.

An autism diagnosis does not automatically disqualify a person from joining the military, but it requires a medical waiver.

The intelligence mission at Teixeira’s base was suspended for more than a year while the Air Force investigated, resuming in May. The lengthy delay led some Massachusetts officials to worry the mission might be permanently reassigned elsewhere.

In coming months, the Air Force intends to court-martial Teixeira in separate proceedings after alleging that he obstructed justice and failed to obey orders. If convicted, Teixeira could be subject to a dishonorable charge, stripping him of his rank and military benefits.

Lamothe reported from Washington.