Leaker of classified US intelligence works on military base, posted the documents on Discord: report

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Biden administration performing damage control following leaked Intelligence documents

Fox News chief national security Jennifer Griffin has the latest on the security breach on 'Special Report.'

The person behind a major leak of secret U.S. intelligence documents is reportedly a man in his 20s who worked on a military base and shared the classified information on the chat app Discord.

The details were revealed in an explosive new report from the Washington Post on Wednesday. The outlet reportedly spoke to a fellow member of the chat group the leaker ran on Discord. The Post's teenage source claimed he knew the leaker's real name and where he lived but said he would not help authorities locate him.

The source told the Post that the leaker ran a Discord group called "Thug Shaker Central," and identified himself only as "OG."

The teen, who the Post said had parental permission to speak to the outlet, said "OG" shared troves of classified material with him and roughly two dozen other members of the chat group.

US DEFENSE SECRETARY LLOYD AUSTIN SAYS LEAKED CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS WERE ‘SOMEWHERE IN THE WEB’

The Pentagon suffered a major leak of classified documents, some of which detailed the dwindling supply of anti-air defense munitions for Ukraine. (Staff/AFP via Getty Images)

Members of the group, described by the Post's source as "tight-knit," reportedly included foreign citizens from Russia and even Ukraine.

Many of the posts were written out by "OG," who then reportedly tired of writing out the intelligence and later resorted to taking and posting pictures of the documents and sharing them with members.

The Washington Post reports "OG" obtained the sensitive information from his job working at an unnamed "military base." 

The source told the Post he believed "OG" only shared the documents to keep members of the group "in the loop" and was not hostile to he U.S. government nor was he working to help another country.

"He is not a Russian operative. He is not a Ukrainian operative," the source told the Post.

LEAKED PENTAGON DOCUMENTS PAINT GRIM PICTURE OF UKRAINIAN AIR DEFENSE SUPPLIES, MAY ONLY LAST A MONTH

The top-secret intel included movements of high-ranking political leaders, updates on military forces, detailed charts of battlefield conditions in Ukraine and satellite images of the aftermath of Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian facilities. Other documents, according to the report, included the potential trajectory of North Korean ballistic nuclear missiles that could reach the U.S. and pictures and information on the surveillance technology attached to the Chinese spy balloon that the Biden administration allowed to float across the U.S. in February.

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The source claimed "OG" did not intend to be a whistleblower. However, the secret documents were leaked on Feb. 28 by another teenage user from the group and spread throughout the internet.

UKRAINE WAR PLANNING DOCUMENTS LEAKED ONLINE, PENTAGON INVESTIGATING

U.S. officials did not become aware of the leaked intelligence until April 5. The New York Times first broke the story of the leak on April 6.

The Biden administration insists it does not know who is behind the leaks. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin briefed reporters on the leaking of dozens of sensitive and highly classified documents Tuesday. "Well, they were somewhere… in the web and where exactly and who had access at that point, we don't know. We simply don't know at this point," Austin said.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin speaks during a briefing at the Pentagon, March 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

The Pentagon and FBI have been investigating the leaks. Fox News has reached out to the Pentagon and FBI for comment.

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A new cache of classified information surfaced online Thursday morning, the New York Times reported, adding that the leak included 27 pages detailing how American spies have gained access to all aspects of the Russian intelligence apparatus and military command structure.

The intel reportedly revealed that the Russian government was unable to agree on the number of casualties suffered in the Ukraine war. It also suggested that the Russian military has been accused of downplaying the number of casualties.