The head of a internet gaming group where a trove of sensitive US intelligence documents were posted online has been identified as a Massachusetts Air National Guardsman named Jack Teixeira, according to a new report.
The Air National Guard is a military reserve force of the US.
The New York Times first reported 21-year-old Mr Teixeira’s identity on Thursday, adding that investigators want to talk to him about the leak and say that he may have information relevant to the investigation.
It’s thought he was tracked down because the photographs of the leaked documents included details from his home.
Separately, the Wall Street Journal reported that an arrest in the case could happen as soon as Thursday.
The fast-moving developments followed a report by the Washington Post late on Wednesday that the classified files were shared to a Discord channel called “Thug Shaker Central.”
The Times reported on Thursday that Mr Teixeira’s online gaming profile links him to other members of the channel.
The paper also reported that details of the interior of Mr Teixeira’s childhood home from pictures posted to social media match items on the margins of some of the photographs of the secret documents.
Images of the documents reviewed byThe Postindicate they are briefing slides that were photographed while laid out on a desk or table.
In at least two photographs, a brochure with apparent information about a rifle scope can be seen. In another photograph, a package of Gorilla Glue can be seen.
On Feb. 28, some of the documents were reported by a member of the Discord channel “wow_mao“.
A member of that channel in turn posted some of them on March 4 to the even larger channel “Minecraft Earth Map”.
The National Guard said in a statement it is aware Thursday of the “alleged role a Massachusetts Air National Guardsman may have played in the recent leak of highly-classified documents” from the Pentagon., reported Fox News.
“The National Guard takes this issue very seriously and will support investigators,” the National Guard said in a statement.
“National security is our foremost priority and any attempt to undermine it compromises our values and degrades trust among our members, the public, allies and partners.
This story appeared in the New York Post and is reproduced with permission.