The president, Joe Biden, assured this Thursday that he is "concerned" by the leak of secret Pentagon documents, which were published in recent weeks on the internet, but added that he is not aware that they include anything "contemporary that has great consequences". .
From Dublin (Ireland), where he is on an official trip, he assured that the Department of Justice (with the FBI) and the intelligence services are carrying out a "full-fledged" investigation and are "closer" to discovering the guilty.
"But I don't have an answer" yet, he added, about who it is.
The newspaper The Washington Post revealed this Wednesday that it is a young man, "charismatic and enthusiastic about weapons", who worked at a military base and shared the documents (the newspaper has reviewed at least 300 images of these leaked classified papers) in a group on the social network Discord (popular among video game fans).
Noticias Telemundo has not been able to confirm the veracity of the information published by The Washington Post.
On this platform, a group of about two dozen people (mostly men and teenagers) came together in a private room (access only by invitation) during the coronavirus pandemic to share their passion for weapons, military equipment and God. , depending on the medium.
It was a kind of "refuge" for them within the isolation of the measures against the pandemic, he reported.
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The young man, nicknamed
OG
, was described as reclusive and gun-loving by a member of the group who is underage and spoke to the newspaper.
“He is an intelligent person.
He knew what he was doing when he published these documents, of course.
They were not accidental leaks of any kind, ”said the young man, who did not want to reveal the identity of the alleged leaker or his location.
OG
presumed to know government secrets, and assured, according to the newspaper, that he spent time inside a military installation where cell phones or other devices were not allowed;
he said he transcribed classified documents that he had access to there to share on the social network.
They were, according to the newspaper, top-secret reports that could only be seen by people who had passed background checks that lasted months.
He did not formally announce it, but Biden repeated that he "plans" to run for re-election
April 10, 202300:34
What do these documents say?
The documents — which have not been individually authenticated by US officials — range from briefing slides outlining
Ukraine's military positions
to assessments of international support for Ukraine and other sensitive topics, such as under what circumstances Russian leader Vladimir Putin might use nuclear weapons.
Its leak has highlighted the extent to which the United States closely monitors how its allies and friends interact with Russia and China.
Officials from several countries have denied or rejected the allegations contained in the secret papers.
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The Associated Press news agency has reported that intelligence services picked up claims by
Russian agents
that relations were deepening with the United Arab Emirates, the oil-rich Middle Eastern nation that is home to major US military installations.
The UAE called it “categorically false”.
The Washington Post reported Monday that
Egypt's president has ordered his subordinates to secretly prepare to send up to 40,000 rockets to Russia
while it wages war in Ukraine.
A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry said that Egypt maintained "non-involvement" and "undertook to maintain equidistance with both parties."
Other leaks have touched on allegations that
South Korean leaders were hesitant to send artillery shells to Ukraine
and that Israel's Mossad spy service was opposed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's judicial reform.
Also, associates of the Russian mercenary group Wagner Group planned to visit the impoverished Caribbean nation of Haiti to seek possible government contracts that would allow them to fight local gangs, NBC News reported.
Some of the documents may have been altered or used as part of a disinformation campaign, according to US officials.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby urged caution on Monday, "as we know that, at least in some cases, the information was manipulated."
How and how many leaked
“They were somewhere on the web, and where exactly, and who had access at the time, we don't know.
We just don't know," Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said at a news conference on Tuesday.
"We will continue to investigate and lift each stone until we find the origin of this and its extent," he said.
There are no clear answers as to how many documents were leaked.
NBC News has seen approximately 50 documents.
What is Discord
Discord is a very popular social networking platform among online gamers.
It hosts real-time voice, video and text chats for groups and describes itself as a place “where you can belong to a school club, a playgroup or a global arts community”.
A Discord spokesperson told CNN on Sunday that the company is cooperating with police in the investigation, but declined to comment further.
What has the White House said?
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre urged social media companies to "avoid facilitating the circulation of material detrimental to national security."
The Pentagon has launched an internal review to assess the impact of the leak on national security.
The review is being led by Milancy D. Harris, assistant assistant secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security, a defense official told The Associated Press.
The team includes representatives from the offices of legislative affairs, public affairs, politics, legal counsel and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the official said.
The Pentagon was also moving quickly to reduce the number of people who have access to the briefings, another defense official said.
Both officers spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
The Pentagon is also closely monitoring where the leaked slides "are published and amplified," said Chris Meagher, assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs.
CIA Director William Burns on Tuesday called the leak "deeply unfortunate."
"It's something the government takes extremely seriously," he said, "the Pentagon and the Department of Justice have now launched a fairly intensive investigation to get to the bottom of it."
What is the impact of the leak
Senior military commanders have contacted allies to address the consequences.
That includes calls "at a high level to assure you of our commitment to safeguard intelligence and fidelity to security associations."
Those conversations began over the weekend and are continuing," Meagher said.
US officials are likely to face more questions when they travel to Germany next week for the next contact group meeting, where representatives from more than 50 nations meet to coordinate aid and arms support for Ukraine.
But the leak of the document is not expected to affect that meeting or the allies' willingness to continue providing military assistance to Ukraine, a senior defense official told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
