The statement comes after Teixeira reached a deal with prosecutors over the leak of classified US military documents last year.
A member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard pleaded guilty to leaking highly classified military documents online, in one of the most serious national security breaches the United States has experienced in recent years.
Jack Teixeira, 22, pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston on Monday. after reaching an agreement with prosecutors that would allow him to serve between 11 and almost 17 years in prison.
Under the agreement, prosecutors plan to seek the upper end of that range, which caps out at 16 years and eight months.
Teixeira pleaded guilty to six counts of intentionally retaining and transmitting classified information related to national defense. He withdrew the previous not guilty plea he had made in June.
The charges arise from the leak of records about the war in Ukraine and other national security secrets last year. The classified records, which were shared on the messaging app Discord, attracted global media attention in April.
The leak prompted US President Joe Biden's administration to rush to assure allies that Washington is capable of safeguarding its national security secrets.
Before his arrest in mid-April, Teixeira had been an Airman First Class at Otis Air National Guard Base in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. He served as a cyber defense operations officer or information technology support specialist.
He had a top-secret security clearance and, starting in January 2022, began accessing hundreds of classified documents.
To share the contents of the records, authorities said Teixeira began by writing copies that he then posted online. He later photographed the files, some of which were marked “SECRET” and “TOP SECRET.”
The leaked documents contained highly classified information about allies and adversaries, with details ranging from troop movements in Ukraine to intelligence on Israel's Mossad spy agency.
In exchange for Teixeira pleading guilty, prosecutors agreed not to charge him with further violations of the Espionage Act.
As part of the agreement, Teixeira must participate in a briefing about the leaks with members of the intelligence community and the Departments of Defense and Justice.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani scheduled his sentencing for Sept. 27 and said she would decide then whether to formally accept the deal.
