According to the Washington Post, the man who generated a massive leak of government secrets that revealed the US’s grim expectations of Ukraine’s chances in its war with Russia, and exposed the Mossad’s support for the anti-judicial reform forces in Israel, is OG, a young gun enthusiast who shared images of those highly classified documents on an app for companionship during the pandemic (Leaker of U.S. secret documents worked on military base, friend says).
In a video reported by The Post, OG stands at a shooting range, “wearing safety glasses and ear coverings and holding a large rifle. He yells a series of racial and antisemitic slurs into the camera, then fires several rounds at a target.”
OG in 2020 led an invitation-only group of about two dozen men and boys on Discord, an online gamers’ platform, and last year posted a lengthy message which few participants bothered to read. But one of the members, who admired OG, the elder leader of the small tribe, paid attention when OG claimed to know government secrets.
The young member read OG’s message and hundreds more that followed for months, recognizing them to be transcripts of classified intelligence documents that OG brought home from his job on an undisclosed military base. OG told the group he worked for hours copying the classified documents, and lectured them about world affairs and secret government operations, to “keep us in the loop,” as the younger member put it.
This young man’s account of the way detailed, highly-classified US government intelligence documents intended for military and government leaders ended up in OG’s online community is based in part on several lengthy interviews with the Discord group member, who spoke to The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity.
The anonymous informant is under 18, and The Post obtained consent from his mother to record his remarks.
The Post corroborated the young member’s account by a second member, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity. Both witnesses said they know OG’s real name, and where he lives and works, but refused to share these details. The FBI is investigating the leaks, as does the Pentagon.
Back in 2013, IDF soldier Anat Kam was sentenced to three and a half years in prison after being convicted of the illegal possession of classified information. In 2008, during her military service as a clerk in the office of the Central Command, Kam was exposed to “presentations and documents of various levels of security classification,” including summaries of discussions, deployment of forces, investigations, and status assessments. In advance of her discharge, she copied the documents to a CD that she took home. She eventually sold the CD to Haaretz correspondent Uri Blau.
These days, Anat Kam is a regular op-ed contributor to Haaretz, and regularly publishes vile anti-Jewish opinions, including, recently, a call on Israelis to put Christmas trees on their porches.
The Post reviewed some 300 photos of classified documents, most of which have not been made public, and an audio recording of OG speaking to his followers.
“The young member was impressed by OG’s seemingly prophetic ability to forecast major events before they became headline news, things ‘only someone with this kind of high clearance’ would know,” The Post reported.
The member said about OG: “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.”
Update: Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old airman first class with the Massachusetts Air Force National Guard’s 102nd Intelligence Wing, based in Cape Cod, was arrested Thursday, at his home in Dighton, Massachusetts.
