Air Force prepares new charges against convicted Discord leaker

Air Force prepares new charges against convicted Discord leaker

The U.S. airman convicted in a sprawling leak of classified government secrets that revealed sensitive intelligence about America’s allies and adversaries will face military criminal proceedings later this month, Air Force officials said Wednesday.

Jack D. Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard who in March pleaded guilty to a raft of federal crimes, faces charges under the military justice system of obstructing justice and failing to obey a lawful order, service officials said in a statement.

The Air Force intends to hold a hearing to review evidence May 14 at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts, the officials said. If prosecutors present a sufficient case, the case could then move to a court-martial trial.

It was not immediately clear who would represent Teixeira, of Dighton, Mass., during the military proceedings. Through a spokesperson, members of Teixeira’s family declined to comment.

The Air Force’s disciplinary proceedings raise the prospect that Teixeira, 22, could face additional time in confinement after he completes his federal sentence. He faces more than 16 years in prison as part of his plea deal with the Justice Department, and he is expected to be sentenced in that case this fall.

Teixeira posted hundreds of classified national security documents on Discord, a chat app popular with video gamers, disclosing U.S. government assessments about matters such as vulnerabilities in Ukrainian air defenses and terrorist plotting in Afghanistan. The case shocked and embarrassed the Pentagon last year, as images of numerous classified documents spread rapidly across social media.

Teixeira’s acquaintances on Discord previously told The Washington Post that the airman knew that he could get in trouble for sharing classified information, but did so anyway because he wanted to impress them.

The leak also exposed serious security gaps that resulted in disciplinary action for at least 15 of Teixeira’s colleagues and supervisors.

An Air Force investigation completed last year found a “culture of complacency” and lack of supervision within his unit, the 102nd Intelligence Wing, at Otis Air National Guard Base, an installation on Cape Cod. While Teixeira is believed to have worked alone to smuggle classified documents out of his workplace and post photographs of them online, the investigation found, other members of his unit were aware that he had accessed material that was supposed to be off-limits to him.

Some of Teixeira’s military superiors feared how he would react after being warned to stop accessing classified information that he had no reason to see, according to documents obtained by The Post last year. For all the concerns, however, no one in his unit reported Teixeira to the appropriate security officials.

Teixeira’s unit on Cape Cod had shared classified threat briefings to an array of personnel so they could better understand global threats. Air Force investigators called the practice inappropriate and determined that it complicated his supervisors’ ability to address his behavior.

The new charges that the Air Force is considering stem from Teixeira’s disregard for orders not to access classified information and his efforts to cover his tracks, officials said. An Air Force summary of the military charges he now faces alleges that he instructed someone else to delete Discord messages that Teixeira had sent when he realized he was in legal jeopardy.

In the Air Force’s case, Teixeira, an airman 1st class, faces a special court-martial trial, a process that limits potential imprisonment to one year. Teixeira could face a variety of additional punishments, including a bad-conduct discharge and a demotion in rank.

The Air Force statement on Wednesday said that the service has closely coordinated with the Justice Department. Teixeira is subject to prosecution by both because he was on active-duty orders when he leaked the classified information, officials said.

Shane Harris contributed to this report.