President Biden said on Thursday in Dublin that the DOJ and intelligence community were close to identifying the source of leaked classified documents that disclosed sensitive national security government secrets.
The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that the person behind the leak worked on a military base and posted sensitive national security secrets in an online group of acquaintances.
Following a forensic trail, the FBI has narrowed the number of people who they believe could be responsible.
The source in the WaPo story described the leaker as a lonely young man and gun enthusiast who was part of a chatroom of about two dozen people on Discord – a social media platform popular with video gamers – that shared a love of guns and military gear.
United by their mutual love of guns, military gear and God, the group of roughly two dozen — mostly men and boys — formed an invitation-only clubhouse in 2020 on Discord, seeking companionship in the middle of the pandemic.
The user called “OG” began to claim he knew government secrets, and began posting near-verbatim transcripts of classified intelligence documents that OG indicated he had brought home from his job on a “military base,” which the source declined to identify. The source said hundreds of users followed along for months.
When transcripts became too laborious, he began posting photos of the documents themselves.
The Post’s source is under 18 and was a young teenager when he met OG. The Post obtained consent from the member’s mother to speak to him and to record his remarks on video.
UPDATE:
The New York Times reports a 21-year-old member of the intelligence wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, identified as Jack Teixeira, is the leader of the online group called Thug Shaker Central.
Two U.S. officials confirmed that investigators want to talk to Airman Teixeira about the leak of the government documents to the private online group. One official said Airman Teixeira might have information relevant to the investigation.
New York Times