US officials have arrested Jack Teixeira in the leak of extremely private US defense and intelligence information case.
The owner of the online gaming chat group where the recently released files were found, according to a previous New York Times investigation, shared the same identity.
He is a 21-year-old member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard’s intelligence branch, according to the newspaper.
According to one of the online group members who was interviewed by The New York Times, he had known the person who leaked the information for at least three years.
On Discord, a social media site that is well-liked among gamers, there were at least 50, and perhaps more than 100, classified papers released.
The documents include a variety of intelligence reports about the conflict in Ukraine as well as sensitive information about other nations, including US allies.
A Washington Post interview with a participant in the chat group where the documents first surfaced was published on Wednesday.
He identified the leaker as a young, charismatic gun enthusiast military post employee who enjoys shooting guns.
According to The Post, the man was the host of a Discord chat room with about 20 people who interacted by exchanging “memes, offensive jokes, and idle chitchat” as well as praying and watching movies.
The members came from a variety of nations in Europe, Asia, and South America, as well as from Russia and Ukraine, according to the newspaper.
Early in March, participants started publishing the leaks to other Discord servers, including one for the video game Minecraft and a Filipino YouTuber. At initially, the disclosures were contained inside the small chat room.
From there, they were published on the 4chan message board and the Telegram chat application, notably on channels that supported Russia. They were changed in certain instances to raise the number of Ukrainian casualties.
Earlier, US President Joe Biden stated that the person who leaked the information was close to being found while on a trip to Ireland.
“There’s a full blown investigation going on, as you know, with the intelligence community and the Justice Department, and they’re getting close,” President Biden told reporters.
