(CNN) President Joe Biden appeared to suggest on Thursday that the US government is close to identifying the leaker responsible for exposing sensitive government secrets posted on social media.
“There is a full investigation going on, as you know,” Biden said when asked for comment about the leaks. “The intelligence community and the Justice Department. And they’re getting closer. I don’t have an answer for you.”
Biden spoke in Dublin, where he met with the president of Ireland. It was the first time he commented on the leak.
The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that the man behind the leak worked at a military base and posted sensitive national security secrets to an online group of acquaintances.
The leaker was described in the Post story as a lonely young man and gun enthusiast who was part of a chatroom of about two dozen people on Discord — a social media platform popular with video gamers. — who share a love of guns and military gear. , according to a friend of the alleged leaker interviewed by the Post who is also a member of the group.
The friend told the Post that he would not disclose the identity of the alleged leaker, who goes by the moniker “OG,” or their location to authorities.
Biden said he was concerned about the fact that the leaks happened, but not necessarily about their content.
“I’m not worried about the leak. I’m worried that it’s happening, but there’s nothing contemporaneous that I’m aware of that’s of any consequence.”
The leaked documents posted on social media, some of which were obtained by CNN, include detailed intelligence assessments of allies and adversaries, including the state of the war in Ukraine and the challenges facing Kyiv. and Moscow as the war shows a stalemate in the coming months.
The Pentagon has begun limiting who across the government receives highly classified daily intelligence briefings after a major leak of classified information was discovered last week.
Some US officials who receive the briefing materials daily have stopped receiving them in recent days, sources familiar with the matter told CNN, while the Pentagon’s Joint Staff continues to reduce those its distribution list.
The Joint Staff, made up of the Defense Department’s most senior uniformed leader who advises the president, began examining the distribution lists immediately after learning of the trove of leaked classified documents — mostly it had markings indicating it was made by the Joint Staff’s intelligence arm, known as J2.
Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder in an interview with News Nation on Wednesday said the Pentagon is looking at “mitigation measures we can take to prevent potential additional unauthorized leaks.”
The criminal investigation was led by the FBI’s Washington field office, including a team of counterintelligence investigators experienced in hunting leaks.
Those investigators are also working with Pentagon officials to assess the damage, which could be part of the evidence used in any potential prosecution that results.
CNN’s Zachary Cohen, Sean Lyngaas, Evan Perez and Alex Marquardt contributed reporting.