Pentagon leaker Jack Teixeira to plead guilty to stealing classified files and posting them on social media platform Discord

• The 22-year-old Air National Guardsman was charged with six counts of willful retention of national defense information and the subsequent leaking of it 
• Teixeira previously pleaded not guilty, but Thursday prosecutors requested a change of plea hearing for next week 

The Massachusetts Air National Guard member accused of leaking highly classified military documents on social media will plead guilty in federal court, according to leal documents filed Thursday.

Jack Teixeira previously pleaded not guilty to the charges surrounding his alleged posting of classified documents on the social media platform Discord, but prosecutors have now asked the federal judge to schedule a change of plea hearing for Monday.

No other details about the forthcoming hearing or Teixeira’s plea status were immediately available.

FBI agents arrest Jack Teixeira, an employee of the U.S. Air Force National Guard, in connection with an investigation into the leaks online of classified U.S. documents, outside a residence in this still image taken from video in North Dighton, Massachusetts, U.S., April 13, 2023

Teixeira, a Massachusetts native, has been locked up since his arrest last April for the leak that sent the military and Biden administration into a tizzy as they attempted to mitigate the damage done internationally.

Allies also had to be reassured that their secrets were being well safeguarded by the US government.

Teixeira, 22, was indicted on six counts of willful retention of national defense information and the subsequent leaking of it.

The young man was accused of sharing classified documents about Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine on Discord, a social media platform usedprimarily by video game enthusiasts.

Investigators say Teixeira was in charge of a group on the platform called Thug Shaker Central, in which weapons and wars were discussed.

Teixeira joined the Air National Guard in 2019 and began last January to share military secrets with his Discord pals.

Authorities say he would first type out classified material but soon moved to sharing photographs of files labeled SECRET and TOP SECRET.

Before he was found out, he worked as a ‘cyber transport systems specialist’ – an IT specialist for military communications networks.

Teixeira was found out on April 6 – the same day the New York Times ran a story about the leaked documents.

Apparently, the national guardsman had searched the word ‘leak’ inside a classified system in an effort to find out information about the investigation into the leaker, according to the FBI.

Teixeira, 22, was indicted on six counts of willful retention of national defense information and the subsequent leaking of it

The US Department of Justice released photo evidence collected during the investigation into US Air National Guardsman accused of leaking classified documents online

Prosecutors say Teixeira continued leaking government secrets ever after receiving a warning by superiors about mishandling classified information and viewing that which he did not have permission to view.

Even after the warning, he was again flagged for looking through information not directly related to the intelligence field.

Ahead of a potential trial, authorities have not provided much insight into possible motives for Teixeira’s behavior.

Chats between the 22-year-old and members of the Discord group indicate that his actions may have been motivated more by bravado than any specific ideology.

Prosecutors have urged the judge to keep the defendant locked up as the case plays  out for reasons including a large arsenal of weapons found at his house and a history of disturbing online statements.

In one social media post, he wrote that if he could, he would kill a ‘ton of people’ because it would be ‘culling the weak minded.’

Judge Indira Talwani denied him bail after determining that ‘No set of release conditions will reasonably assure the safety of the community, or prevent destruction of evidence.’

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