Judicial documents showed that US Air Force worker Jack Teixeira, who is accused of leaking top-secret military documents and publishing them online, will change his statements and confess to the crime, which will threaten him with imprisonment.
Prosecutors requested a change of plea during a March 4 hearing, where Teixeira will confirm his not guilty plea has been rescinded.
Teixeira was arrested in Massachusetts in April on charges of organizing the most damaging leak of secret US documents in a decade, some of which relate to the war in Ukraine.
He faces six charges related to retaining and transmitting national defense information, each punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Teixeira is also accused of publishing documents, some of which date back to early March 2023, on a private chat group on the social media platform Discord.
The documents indicated the United States’ concern about Ukraine’s military capabilities in the face of Russian forces, and also showed that Washington apparently spied on its allies Israel and South Korea, as well as other sensitive details.
This is the largest breach of its kind since Edward Snowden leaked National Security Agency documents in 2013, raising questions about the ability of Teixeira and other junior employees to access high-level secrets.
Teixeira had had a security clearance since 2021, and in May 2023, a judge ordered that Teixeira be kept in detention after prosecutors considered that he posed a continuing risk to US national security.
Prosecutors said Teixeira may still have access to classified documents and that “hostile” countries could help him escape if he is released. They also cited his history of making “violent” statements.
Teixeira wrote on social media in November 2022 that he wanted to “kill a lot of people” because that would lead to “the execution of weak-minded people,” according to a court document.
Teixeira was arrested during a dramatic security operation in April 2023, which was broadcast live on television networks.
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