Leaker of Secret Docs Identified in Media as Young National Guardsman

This week, various media outlets identified the leaker responsible for releasing classified U.S. intelligence documents. According to reports, the culprit is a 21-year-old National Guardsman who shared sensitive information regarding US involvement in the Ukraine-Russia war with friends via an online server. The leak is being described as the most devastating to the United States in the past decade. The documents exposed U.S. spying on allies and pessimistic views on peace talks.

The alleged leaker has been identified as Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard. The New York Times shed light on this individual but it remains unclear how Teixeira got access to confidential material.

The Washington Post reported that the leak was from someone who worked at a military base and shared hundreds of documents with friends on a Discord server. One of the friends posted the documents online leading to the current situation where the United States and its allies are in turmoil.

President Joe Biden stated that intelligence officials are close to finding the leaker while an investigation is currently underway by the intelligence community and the Justice Department.

The documents revealed that 14 U.S. servicemembers are on the ground in Ukraine and that U.S. intelligence was spying on allies including Ukraine, Israel, and South Korea.

The administration has taken necessary steps to restrict access to sensitive information as a result of the leak according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

The Washington Post’s source disclosed that the alleged leaker was known as “OG” and leaked the documents to impress their friends, some of whom are foreign nationals. The source, a teenager who spoke with the Post with parental permission, stated that “OG” shared classified materials with them and about two dozen others. The chat group included foreign citizens, some from Russia and Ukraine.

“OG” wrote many of the posts and later resorted to taking pictures of the documents before sharing them with group members as they grew tired of handwriting sensitive information. “OG” reportedly obtained the confidential information from their job at an undisclosed military base.