Jack Teixeira pleads guilty to massive leak of Pentagon secrets on social media site Discord

The Massachusetts Air National Guard member charged with sharing hundreds of classified documents on social media, which led to punishment for 15 service members, pleaded guilty Monday to all six charges against him.

Airman 1st Class Jack Teixeira had been charged with six counts of willful retention of defense records for allegedly sharing classified documents through the social media platform Discord.

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani set sentencing for Sept. 27. Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy said prosecutors would recommend nearly 17 years in prison at sentencing and defense lawyers are allowed to suggest no less than 11 years in prison.

“He’s going to now spend many years behind bars,” Levy said. “That’s a serious hit. We feel that it sends a powerful message.”

Teixeira's crimes 'shocking,' DOJ official says

Teixeira, 22, smiled at his father before being led out of the courtroom with his hands and legs shackled, wearing orange jail garb and black rosary beads around his neck.

Matthew Olsen, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s National Security Division, said Teixeira “flagrantly” discarded warnings against distributing some of the nations most guarded secrets with “profound harms to our nation’s security.”

“It has been shocking, shocking to witness the public disclosures,” Olsen said.

What national defense secrets did the leak reveal?

The leaks exposed embarrassing secrets and analysis from across the U.S. intelligence community involving Russia's war in Ukraine and North Korea's race to develop nuclear weapons.

The classified documents leaked to Discord revealed the work of bodies including the National Security Agency, the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency, law enforcement agencies and the ultra-secret National Reconnaissance Office, which operates America's spy satellites.

Levy said the documents dealt with a raging war in Europe, including troop movements in Ukraine, and provisions of supplies and equipment to Ukraine. The materials also described an adversary’s plans to harm U.S. forces abroad – “a particularly despicable act,” Levy said.

“He didn’t care at all about the consequences,” Levy said.

One notable document that Teixeira allegedly shared with a rapt audience of teenage gamers on Discord was a top secret February analysis predicting that Ukraine's vaunted counteroffensive against Russia would likely produce modest gains. The assessment, at odds with the Biden Administration's optimistic appraisals of the Ukraine military, was correct − the war is currently stalemated.

Jodi Cohen, FBI special agent in charge of the Boston office, people usually think of China, Russia and Iran being the most serious national security threats facing the country.

“You wouldn’t think a 21-year-old National Air Guardsman who took an oath to defend the Constitution would make the list,” Cohen said. “He knew what he was doing was wrong and he did it anyway.”

Who else was disciplined over the security leaks?

Teixeira, who was part of the 102nd Intelligence Wing at Otis Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts, worked basically as an information technology specialist responsible for military communications networks.

The Air Force disciplined 15 members of the National Guard after an investigation into the massive online leaks of classified information, allegedly by a Massachusetts airman, revealed a “lack of adequate supervision” and a “culture of complacency,” according to an inspector general’s report. Teixeira's supervisors were cited for for failing to restrict his access to classified systems and facilities, and failing to alert authorities when he was allegedly sharing the government’s secrets illegally.

Teixeira’s family issued a statement that acknowledged surprise at the charges and urged the 102nd Intelligence Wing to remedy problems handling classified documents.

“As parents, it is unfathomable to think your child would ever be involved in something so serious, but he has taken responsibility for his part in this, and here we are,” the statement said. “However, what remains are more questions spurred by the shocking details revealed by the Inspector General's investigation of the 102nd Intelligence Wing on how the lackadaisical work atmosphere, lack of adequate training and oversight, combined with a complete disregard for policy and procedure ‘directly and indirectly contributed’ to what happened.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jack Teixeira pleads guilty to leaking Pentagon secrets on social media