Pentagon leaker Jack Teixeira pleads guilty to military obstruction charges

By Nate Raymond

BOSTON (Reuters) -Jack Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard who is serving a 15-year prison sentence for leaking classified U.S. national security documents online, was sentenced by a military judge to a dishonorable discharge on Thursday after pleading guilty to obstructing justice.

Teixeira, 23, was sentenced by a judge at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts after he entered a plea pursuant to a deal that called for him to serve no additional time in custody, bringing an end to court-martial proceedings that began this week.

The military charges were filed last year following what U.S. authorities say was one of the largest leaks of classified documents in years, including some related to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The sentence imposed by Military Judge Colonel Vicki Marcus was confirmed by an Air Force spokesperson. A representative for Teixeira's family confirmed the plea deal.

He can still appeal. His attorney, Lieutenant Colonel Bradley Poronsky, on Monday argued the obstruction charges violated Teixeira's right to not be prosecuted twice for the same offense, after the U.S. Department of Justice prosecuted him following his April 2023 arrest.

Teixeira said in a statement delivered during the proceedings that he understood what he did was illegal but believed it was his moral obligation to expose what he said were "lies" Democratic President Joe Biden's administration perpetuated about the war in Ukraine.

He argued the Justice Department under Biden had been "weaponized" against both him and now-President Donald Trump, and he urged the Republican to reverse his convictions and punishments.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

Prosecutors say that Teixeira, while serving as an airman first class at Otis Air National Guard Base on Cape Cod in Massachusetts, in January 2022 began accessing classified information that he shared with individuals on messaging app Discord.

Air Force prosecutors say Teixeira obstructed justice by then disposing of an iPad, computer hard drive and iPhone after the leaks were uncovered in April 2023, and instructed someone to delete online messages he had sent on Discord.

The Air Force pursued charges only after Teixeira had already pleaded guilty in March 2024 to separate charges brought by the Justice Department that he willfully retained and transmitted classified information relating to national defense.

Teixeira was subsequently sentenced in November by a federal judge in Boston to 15 years in prison.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Nia Williams)