The online chat platform Discord has announced that they are fully cooperating with US law enforcement after a slew of leaked classified documents appeared on the site. Many of these documents appear to reveal sensitive information about the West’s involvement in the war in Ukraine.
According to Reuters, Discord issued a statement that read: In regards to the apparent breach of classified material, we are cooperating with law enforcement. As this remains an active investigation, we cannot provide further comment at this time."
While most of the documents have only recently gained traction, open-source investigative site Bellingcat has suggested that some of these documents could have been floating around on the internet since March, or even as far back as January, Reuters reported.
Some of the leaked documents appear to suggest that there have been four “wild card” scenarios that could come to pass concerning the war in Ukraine. These startling scenarios, if true, do not offer a path to peace. The four scenarios the New York Times reported were the deaths of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky or Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as “the removal of leadership within the Russian Armed Forces and a Ukrainian strike on the Kremlin.”On Thursday, 21-year-old Jack Teixeira was arrested in connection to the document leaks. Teixeira appeared in court on Friday, and was charged with retention and transmission of national defense intelligence and willful retention of classified documents. If convicted, the Massachusetts Air National Guardsman could face up to 15 years in prison.
Hundreds of documents marked as being "sensitive and highly-classified material" were posted to a Discord channel of around 30 members by a user known as "OG."
According to the Daily Mail, Teixeira made a final call to his gamer friends before he was arrested, saying "guys, it’s been good. I love you all."
Teixeira told fellow gamers last week: "I never wanted it to get like this. I prayed to God that this would never happen. And I prayed and prayed and prayed. Only God can decide what happens from now on."
