Some of the Pentagon’s most closely held secrets are reported to have been posted on Discord, a gamers’ social media website. The Defense Department is in full hair-on-fire mode to determine the scope and depth of the leak. The search is on for the leaker, as well – reportedly a young man in his 20s who worked on a military base and shared the information with friends online during the pandemic.
Press reports reveal a comprehensive investigation inside the five-sided building led by Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security Milancy D. Harris. The Pentagon officials involved in the leak assessment are Public Affairs, Legislative Affairs, Policy, the General Counsel, Intelligence and Security, and the Joint Staff, among others, Chris Meagher, Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, said at a recent press briefing.
Providing background on what the defense officials are actively pursuing, Meagher explained:
“These photos appear to show documents similar in format to those used to provide daily updates to our senior leaders on Ukraine and Russia-related operations, as well as other intelligence updates. Some of these images appear to have been altered…an interagency effort has been set up with a focus on assessing the impact these photographed documents could potentially have on US national security and on our allies and partners.”
The Hunt Continues …
As the government intensifies its investigation, new information has been made available to the public. “The person behind the leak of secret US 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,” Fox News reported. The new information was first revealed in a breaking article published by a prominent Washington, DC, paper. According to Fox, “The outlet reportedly spoke to a fellow member of the chat group the leaker ran on Discord.” Additionally, the source said the leaker goes by “OG” and established the Discord chat group called “Thug Shaker Central.” This new information is more problematic because the leaker’s Discord chat group buddy told the paper that “‘ OG’ shared troves of classified material with him and roughly two dozen other members of the chat group.”
“They were, he (the fellow Discord participant) recalled, what appeared to be near-verbatim transcripts of classified intelligence documents that OG indicated he had brought home from his job on a ‘military base,’ which the member declined to identify,” the outlet reported. If true, the Pentagon has a lot of questions to answer. How did a young military base worker copy or photograph highly classified documents and casually walk out of the office? The Defense Department has annual training for everyone with a clearance or working close to clearance holders called “Insider Threat Awareness.” The online course provides detailed information on what to look for in your coworkers that would indicate the potential for breaches in security for handling classified data. What failed here?
Leak Problematic for US Relations With Allies and Friends
Other allegations brought to light in the leaked materials were that US intelligence operatives had information that Russian spies had contacted the United Arab Emirates attempting to influence the Emirates to work against US and UK intelligence efforts. “The UAE rejected the allegations, calling them ‘categorically false,'” Tara Kopp and Nomaan Merchant reported for The Associated Press. “Other leaks have concerned allegations that South Korean leaders were hesitant to ship artillery shells to Ukraine and that Israel’s Mossad spy service opposed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposed overhaul of the judiciary,” the AP journalists reported. The documents show that the US spies on its allies, friends, and adversaries. Shocker. More troubling is the perception of the US gathering information on a Gulf Region partner when China has been so prominent in Middle East geopolitical activities of late. The US does not need more reasons for Middle East nations to move closer to Beijing. It may be why the Biden administration is working diligently to get on top of the breach in Pentagon security.
Lloyd Austin (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
“The documents we are aware of are dated the 28th of February and 1st of March. I don’t know if there are other documents that have been online before…I will tell you we take this very seriously and we will continue to investigate and turn over every rock until we find the source of this and the extent of it,” Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III told reporters during a US Philippines two-plus-two ministerial dialogue press conference in Washington, DC, on April 11. The dates Austin was aware of make the failure of the US counterintelligence community even more alarming. The new information from press reports indicates the leaks of classified data had been going on for months before the Pentagon became aware. At the same press conference, Secretary of State Antony Blinken asserted that the US was in contact with allies and partners at “high levels” to reassure them of the US commitment to “safeguarding intelligence and security partnerships.” The US will restore confidence in its ability secure extremely sensitive information with the rapid apprehension of OG. To that end, “President Biden said Thursday (April 13) that the US is ‘getting close’ to finding the person responsible for leaking Pentagon documents that the Department of Defense has described as containing ‘sensitive and highly classified material,’” Greg Norman and Lorraine Taylor reported for Fox News.
US Allowing a Leak of Highly Sensitive Information Wasn’t Missed by Allies
None of the dangerous and embarrassing fallout from the release of highly classified information is overlooked by concerned global defense partners. In comments during an address to a Lowy Institute conference in Sidney, Australia, Australian Defence Force Chief Angus Campbell clarified the seriousness of the US failure to keep secrets secret. “The issue of maintaining the security of information is critical to the development of national capability and to the trust and confidence across allies and partners. And I appreciate that this by reports is a serious leak and is being investigated by US authorities, and they are engaging with partners to better understand the potential consequences,” Campbell told the audience.
As more information regarding the Pentagon’s leaked classified materials comes to light, Congress wants to know what’s happening. “Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on Tuesday (March 11) called for the Biden administration to brief senators on the leak of highly classified documents about the Ukraine war,” The Hill reported. Several press accounts reveal the leaked Defense Department documents, some classified at the top secret level, cast doubt on Kyiv’s military’s ability to push the Russian invaders out of Ukraine. When funding for the US continuing to bank-roll arms to Ukraine is, in some quarters, precarious, a lack of confidence in courageous Ukrainians to prosecute the war to a win does not help the White House’s “as long as it takes” position. Mending fences with allies and friends and wrapping up finding and punishing the leaker is essential.
The views expressed are those of the author and not of any other affiliation.
