President Joe Biden said Thursday that federal agents are “getting close” to finding the person who leaked a trove of classified Pentagon documents relating to Russia’s war on Ukraine and U.S. intelligence methods.
“There’s a full-blown investigation going on, as you know, with the intelligence community and the Justice Department [DOJ], and they’re getting close,” Biden told reporters, adding he “can’t” provide an update “right now.”
“I’m not concerned about the leak. I’m concerned that it happened. But there’s nothing contemporaneous that I’m aware of that’s of great consequence,” the president continued.
The person behind the leaks posted hundreds of pictures of classified documents on Discord — a private online chat platform — in recent months while speaking with other Discord users, The Washington Post reported, citing two members of his group chat. The leaker claimed to have accessed the information from his job on a military base, according to the outlet. (RELATED: Here’s What We Know About The Pentagon’s Classified Document Leak So Far)
The documents had been scrubbed from social media but resurfaced in recent days after reporting from various media outlets.
DUBLIN, IRELAND – APRIL 13: In this handout image provided by the Irish Government, US President Joe Biden arrives at Farmleigh House, Phoenix Park on April 13, 2023 in Dublin, Ireland. (Photo by Julien Behal/Irish Government via Getty Images)
White House national security council spokesman John Kirby said Monday that Biden had been briefed on the leak, and that the Department of Defense has referred this to the DOJ for a criminal investigation.
Kirby refused to say whether the leak was contained and if it was an “ongoing threat,” saying, “We don’t know. We truly don’t know.” (RELATED: LEAKED DOCS: New Chinese Hypersonic Missile Has ‘High Probability’ Of Penetrating US Defenses)
The leaked documents appear to show information pertaining to Ukraine, China, South Korea, Turkey and more.