In pleading guilty at his military trial, Jack Teixeira appealed directly to President Trump, reflecting a tactic being used by a growing number of convicted criminals and their lawyers.
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Jack Teixeira in an undated photo posted on social media.
Glenn Thrush
Report from Washington
March 13, 2025
A Massachusetts Air National Guard soldier who pleaded guilty last year to leaking military secrets said Thursday he broke the law to expose the Biden administration's efforts to aid Ukraine and asked President Trump for leniency, saying he had new information to disclose.
Guardsman Jack Teixeira, who is serving a 15-year sentence in federal prison, made the plea after pleading guilty at his court-martial. In a letter he read aloud, he pleaded with Mr. Trump, Cash Patel, the FBI director, and the official who handles clemency requests, to intervene on his behalf to prevent “double jeopardy” that would have added more prison time.
The military judge hearing the case denied his motion, although she agreed to the terms of the plea bargain, which included a dishonorable discharge and no jail time.
Mr. Teixeira’s appeal to Mr. Trump reflects tactics used by a growing number of convicted criminals and their lawyers as they seek to seize new opportunities for pardons or commutations under a president who has granted reprieves for the Capitol rioters and other political allies.
He described himself to Mr. Trump as a fellow victim of the prosecutor’s “weapon.” In his letter, he cast himself as a heroic patriot, not the aimless young man who emerged in court documents in his case. The recordings showed Mr. Teixeira as a man who posted secrets to impress strangers online while living at home with his parents.
“I see dignity and honor in President Trump and his vision for America,” he wrote.
Mr Teixeira, 23, asked Mr Trump and Mr Patel to review his case “with the goal of reversing the actions of the deep state and showing the truth, no matter how embarrassing it may be for the Biden administration.”
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