Former Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira Indicted on Six Counts of Willful Retention and Transmission of National Defense Information

A federal grand jury in Massachusetts has indicted former Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira on six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information.

Teixeira, 21, was arrested in April for allegedly sharing highly classified military documents about Russia’s war in Ukraine and other top national security issues in a chat room on Discord, a social media platform.

The indictment alleges that Teixeira, who held a TOP SECRET/SCI security clearance since July 2021, used his position as a systems administrator in the 102nd Intelligence Wing in the Massachusetts Air National Guard to obtain and then illegally disseminate classified military information to members of an online messaging platform.

The Justice Department said that Teixeira received training on the proper handling of classified information. However, the breach exposed to the world unvarnished secret assessments of Russia’s war in Ukraine, the capabilities and geopolitical interests of other nations and other national security issues.

Teixeira is currently being held in federal custody and is scheduled to appear in court on June 10th. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and three years of supervised release.