Air National Guard alleged leaker possibly shared classified info since start of Ukraine war

The alleged documents leaker, Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira, has reportedly been leaking documents since the start of the war in Ukraine. 

According to a report from the New York Times, there was a Discord user that matched the profile of Teixeira, who began sharing classified information in a chat group with roughly 600 members shortly after Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

"Saw a pentagon report saying that 1/3rd of the force is being used to invade," the user wrote in one Discord message, according to the New York Times. 

Teixeira was reportedly a systems operator, or IT worker, who allegedly uploaded hundreds of pages of sensitive documents about the war in Ukraine into a second Discord group chat.

Teixeira was arrested by federal agents for allegedly leaking classified Pentagon documents online into that second group chat, and was charged earlier this month with unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information and willful retention of classified documents.

He faces charges under the Espionage Act.  

The 21-year-old did not enter a plea and was ordered to be held for a detention hearing during the ongoing investigation. He could face up to 15 years in prison.

Charlotte Hazard is a reporter at Just the News. Follow her on Twitter.