[The Blaze] Researchers have traced a major leak of U.S. classified documents about the war between Ukraine and Russia to a gamer-centric chat app called Discord, Bellingcat and the Associated Press reported."We don't know. We truly don't know," National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby told reporters Monday on whether the leaks present an ongoing threat.
Kirby said the the Department of Defense has referred the matter to the Department of Justice for a criminal investigation. He added that President Biden was briefed late last week on the leaks and had stayed in contact with national security officials over the weekend.
Thursday, the New York Times reported on the documents appearing on Twitter and Telegram.
Researchers from Bellingcat, however, have traced the origin of the leak farther back in time and to a different app called Discord, where documents circulated as early as January 13.
Discord is a chat app popular with gamers but is used by a wide variety of other communities, like bird watchers, fans of television shows, and even college professors holding classes. The platform offers chat, voice, and video channels.
Aric Toler, Director of Training and Research at Bellingcat, traced ten documents with "Top Secret" markings about Ukraine to a Discord server called "Minecraft Earth Map" posted March 4. He says that leak was spurred by a spat between users, one of whom attached the bevy of documents, apparently to win an argument.