Jack Teixeira, the Air National Guardsman accused of leaking dozens of classified Pentagon documents, is expected to plead guilty in a US court on Monday.

Teixeira allegedly shared the top-secret files and photographs via his private Discord server in February 2022, and these classified documents [1]later surfaced on social media. It's believed the then-21-year-old, who reportedly [2]liked gaming and guns , was obsessed with [3]mass shootings and conspiracy theories , and leaked the classified military information in an attempt to impress his fellow gamers online.

A US Air Force report made public in December concluded Teixeira was the [4]only airman behind the leak, though determined that his chain of command bears some responsibility for letting the classified data dump happen on its watch.

[5]

According to the report, Teixeira "was observed viewing intelligence content on TS-SCI websites" in August 2022, referring to Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information, and that his supervisor did not officially document the incident. A month later Teixeira was caught viewing intelligence documents while scribbling on a Post-It note.

[6]

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Teixeira, who was [8]collared last April, [9]previously pleaded not guilty to six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information.

According to a motion filed

[10]PDF

on Thursday, Teixeira has requested a Rule 11 hearing — a court proceeding to discuss a change of plea — on March 4. The plea agreement remains sealed as of Friday, so it's unclear to what charges Teixeira will plead guilty.

[11]

Teixeira has remained in custody since his arrest.

[12]Pentagon super-leak suspect cuffed: 21-year-old Air National Guardsman

[13]Discord in the ranks: Lone Airman behind top-secret info leak on chat platform

[14]US govt IT help desk techie 'leaked top secrets' to foreign nation

[15]US military battling cyber threats from within and without

"As laid out in the indictment, Jack Teixeira was entrusted by the United States government with access to classified national defense information — including information that reasonably could be expected to cause exceptionally grave damage to national security if shared," US Attorney General Merrick Garland [16]said in June, following Teixeira's indictment.

A month later, a judge denied Teixeira's request to be released. Teixeira's argument was that he had been charged with the same federal counts as [17]former president Donald Trump , who remains out on bail. If a tycoon born into immense privilege and wealth can avoid a stretch behind bars awaiting a similar trial, so should I, Teixeira argued unsuccessfully.

The leaked documents included sensitive details about America's involvement in the Russia-Ukraine war, [18]South Korea's concerns about selling ammunition to the US, and China developing a [19]supersonic spy drone .

In addition to Teixeira, 15 Air National Guard leaders have been [20]disciplined for their failure to act. The US Air Force has also taken steps to reform to its need-to-known and classified data access standards. ®

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[1] https://www.theregister.com/2023/04/07/us_military_plans_leak/

[2] https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/04/12/discord-leaked-documents/

[3] https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/06/us/politics/jack-teixeira-leaks-discord-messages.html

[4] https://www.theregister.com/2023/12/12/us_air_force_discord_leaker/

[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZeJeGS57D8kcoFPQQ6JUngAAAJE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0

[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZeJeGS57D8kcoFPQQ6JUngAAAJE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZeJeGS57D8kcoFPQQ6JUngAAAJE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[8] https://www.theregister.com/2023/04/13/alleged_pentagon_leaker_arrested/

[9] https://www.npr.org/2023/06/21/1183616535/pentagon-leak-jack-teixeira-pleads-not-guilty

[10] https://regmedia.co.uk/2024/03/01/teixeira_motion_rule_11_hearing.pdf

[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZeJeGS57D8kcoFPQQ6JUngAAAJE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[12] https://www.theregister.com/2023/04/13/alleged_pentagon_leaker_arrested/

[13] https://www.theregister.com/2023/12/12/us_air_force_discord_leaker/

[14] https://www.theregister.com/2023/09/21/it_help_desk_guy_arrested/

[15] https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/01/us_military_cybersecurity/

[16] https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/air-national-guardsman-indicted-unlawful-disclosure-classified-national-defense

[17] https://www.theregister.com/2023/07/29/florida_man_video_indictment/

[18] https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/09/world/asia/leak-pentagon-south-korea-ukraine.html

[19] https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/04/18/china-supersonic-drone-taiwan-leaks/

[20] https://www.315aw.afrc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3613314/results-of-investigation-into-a1c-texieras-unit-following-unauthorized-disclosu/

[21] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/