The Massachusetts Air National Guardsman facing allegations of leaking sensitive documents from the Pentagon pleaded not guilty to the charges on Wednesday in federal court.
Jack Teixeira, 21, appeared in a Worcester, Massachusetts courtroom on Wednesday afternoon, nearly a week after a federal grand jury indicted him.
Relatives of Jack Teixeira, a member of the U.S. Air Force National Guard suspected of leaking highly classified U.S. documents, leave the federal courthouse in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., April 14, 2023. ( REUTERS/Lauren Owen Lambert)
The North Dighton, Massachusetts resident faces six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information. He was arrested on April 13 on suspicion that he shared highly classified military documents pertaining to the war in Ukraine, as well as top national security issues in a chat room on Discord, a social media platform.
Teixeira held a top-secret information security clearance that granted him access to the classified information.
Greg Norman of Fox News Digital and The Associated Press contributed to this report.