The New York Times has named a man who may be behind a leak of classified US government documents that is currently being investigated by the Justice Department and the Pentagon. He is a 21-year-old member of the Massachusetts National Guard (serving in the Air Force).
He is the leader of a private discussion group on the social network Discord, popular among video game fans, where he shared secret documents with like-minded people.
The New York Times reports that the FBI intends to interview the man, believing they have information relevant to the ongoing leak investigation.
Earlier Thursday, the Washington Post published an article summarizing attempts to find out who exactly released hundreds of classified Pentagon documents online and describing the alleged leaker. According to the newspaper, it could be a young man in his twenties, working in one of the American military bases.
The Washington Post calls it “OG”; he used this pseudonym to communicate within the Discord platform. According to reporters, “OG” was the leader and mentor of a private chat group called Thug Shaker Central, which is made up of 20-30 teens and young adults interested in guns and video games who shared racist memes on the platform.
The newspaper writes that the group included members from the United States, Asia and Latin America.
According to descriptions by members of this group, “OG” loves guns and boasted of being an excellent marksman and having access to classified government information.
He first told the group the contents of the documents he had access to, then proceeded to photograph them and upload them to the chat.
The source of the Washington Post investigation was a teenager who calls himself a friend of “OG”. Journalists conducted several interviews with him, with his mother’s consent. He said he would not tell authorities who “OG” was or where he was.In a statement on Wednesday, the Discord platform noted that the company is cooperating with the investigation.
The CNN, citing its sources, reports that the FBI has narrowed the circle of suspects it believes may be involved in the leak, and has been conducting interrogations in recent days. Despite the fact that a large number of people had access to the documents, investigators were able to narrow the search due to the forensic trail left by the person who released the documents.
The FBI office in Washington DC is investigating the case.
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