Air Force prosecutors urged a military hearing officer on Tuesday to suggest that Jack Teixeira, an Air National Guardsman, be court-martialed for violating orders and obstructing justice after disclosing national defense secrets.
Teixeira, 22, appeared for the military court hearing at Hanscom Air Force Base, roughly 20 miles outside of Boston. He pleaded guilty to federal charges in March for leaking classified defense materials on the social media site Discord. Some of these documents contained intelligence about the war in Ukraine, including classified army movements.
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A judge will sentence Teixeira to more than ten years in prison in September.
The hearing officer, who will review the military prosecutors’ evidence on Tuesday and make a recommendation to the convening authority, the commander of the Air Force District of Washington, now controls the junior airman’s fate. The commander will finally decide whether to refer Teixeira’s case to a military tribunal, often known as a court martial.
Teixeira entered the courtroom on Tuesday, unfettered and dressed in his military uniform. As the prosecutors presented their case, his relatives in the audience muttered to one another. His mother, Dawn Dufault, stated that his Air Force uniform no longer fit. “It’s all the junk they’re feeding him in there,” she replied.
Prosecutors did not call any witnesses to prove probable cause for the “specifications” or counts, instead relying on a series of documents to back up their charges.
To demonstrate Teixeira’s failure to respect orders, prosecutors produced documents from his supervisors dated September 2022 to April 2023 encouraging him to stop accessing material unrelated to his duties.
Following his detention, they claimed to have found Teixeira’s devices, including an iPad and a hard drive, in a nearby dumpster.
Capt. Stephanie Adams claimed Teixeira acted with “malicious intent to cover his tracks,” obstructing justice.
Prosecutors also presented Discord conversations from an account believed to be Teixeira’s, in which he requested that another user erase messages.
Teixeira’s defense attorneys, including Lt. Col. Bradley Poronsky, a former offensive lineman for the Texas Longhorns, failed to summon witnesses or present evidence.
However, his defense contended that the most recent accusations should be dismissed due to the idea of double jeopardy, or not being charged twice for the same act.
Maj. Luke Gilhooly, Teixeira’s attorney, contended that the accusations against the disgraced airman had already been decided in federal court and that the fresh prosecution amounts to the Air Force attempting “to get its own pound of flesh.”
The defense claimed that, despite “double jeopardy,” the government failed to demonstrate that Teixeira meant to evade orders or obstruct justice.
There is no deadline for the hearing officer to submit his recommendation or for the convening authority to make a decision.
