The person who leaked US classified documents prompting a national security investigation is a gun enthusiast in his 20s who worked on a military base, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing fellow members of an online chat group.
The person shared classified information to a group on the instant messaging platform Discord of about two dozen men and young boys who shared a “mutual love of guns, military gear and God,” the Post said.
The Post based its report, which did not name the person, on interviews with two members of the Discord chat group.
Reuters was unable to verify details of the report.
Discord said in a statement earlier on Wednesday that it was cooperating with law enforcement.
The Department of Defense and the Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The Department of Justice opened a formal criminal probe last week after the matter was referred by the Pentagon, which is assessing the damage done by what may be the most damaging release of classified US information in years.
The person went by the handle OG, slang for Original Gangster, or an old school traditionalist. The person was described by one of the Post’s sources as being in his early to mid-20s, and was looked up to by members of the group.
“He’s fit. He’s strong. He’s armed. He’s trained. Just about everything you can expect out of some sort of crazy movie,” said one member of the chat group, who was under 18 and spoke on the condition of anonymity with the permission of his mother, the Post reported.
In what appears to be the gravest leak of US secrets in years, pictures of sensitive documents were posed on Discord and other platforms including the online messaging board 4Chan, the encrypted Telegram global messaging app, and Twitter.
US national security agencies and the Justice Department are investigating the release to assess the damage to national security and relations with allies and other countries, including Ukraine.
Big US intelligence leak was by gun enthusiast in 20s – Washington Post
https://arab.news/9794u
Big US intelligence leak was by gun enthusiast in 20s – Washington Post
UN refugee agency chief: ‘Very difficult moment in history’
- According to his agency also known as UNHCR, there are 117.3 million forcibly displaced people around the world from 194 countries
ROME: The first refugee to lead the UN refugee agency has said that the world faces “a very difficult moment in history” and is appealing to a common humanity amid dramatic change.
Repression of immigrants is growing, and the funding to protect them is plummeting.
Without ever mentioning the Trump administration or its policies directly, Barham Salih said his office will have to be inventive to confront the crisis, which includes losing well over $1 billion in US support.
FASTFACT
There are 117.3 million forcibly displaced people around the world from 194 countries.
“Of course it’s a fight, undeniably so, but I think also I’m hopeful and confident that there is enough humanity out there to really enable us to do that,” said Salih, a former president of Iraq.
He was also adamant on the need to safeguard the 1951 refugee convention as the Trump administration campaigns for other governments to join it in upending a decades-old system and redefining asylum rules.
Salih, who took up his role as high commissioner for refugees on Jan. 1, described it as an international legal responsibility and a moral responsibility.
According to his agency also known as UNHCR, there are 117.3 million forcibly displaced people around the world from 194 countries. Salih’s challenge is supporting some 30 million refugees with significantly less funds.
In 2024 and 2025, funding from the US dropped from $2.1 billion to $800 million, and yet the country remains UNHCR’s largest donor.
“Resources made available to helping refugees are being constrained and limited in very, very significant way,” Salih said.
The Trump administration is also reviewing the US asylum system, suspending the refugee program in 2025 and setting a limit for entries to 7,500, mostly white South Africans — a historic low for refugee admittance since the program’s inception in 1980.
The Trump administration also has tightened immigration enforcement as part of its promise to increase deportations, while facing criticism for deportations to third countries and an uproar over two fatal shootings by federal officers and other deaths.
“We have to accept the need for adapting with a new environment in the world,” Salih said.
His agency is seeking to be more cost-effective, “to really deliver assistance to the people who need it, rather than be part of a system that sustains dependency on humanitarian assistance,” he added. Salih has already met Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican. He said he was grateful for the support of the pontiff — the first pope from the US.
“The voice of the church and faith-based organizations in this endeavor is absolutely vital,” Salih said. “His moral support, his voice of the need for supporting refugees and what we do as UNHCR at this moment is very, very important.”
