Classified document leak investigation zeroes in on Massachusetts Air National Guardsman

FBI agents want to question a Massachusetts Air National Guardsman in their investigation into leaked classified documents, Fox News has learned.

A law enforcement source briefed on the investigation told Fox News that it is working to locate the guardsman, who is currently believed to be in Massachusetts. The guardsman’s security clearance and access to classified government systems have been revoked, according an internal government document reviewed by Fox News.

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. 

“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. 

BIDEN SAYS FEDS ‘GETTING CLOSE’ TO FINDING CLASSIFIED DOCUMENT LEAKER

“We will not have a comment concerning the ongoing investigation and refer you to the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for details,” the statement added. 

Both those agencies, when contacted by Fox News, had no comment.

The New York Times and other outlets reported that the man is a member of the 102nd Intelligence Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard who was involved in a private online group called Thug Shaker Central. 

The 102nd Intelligence Wing, when contacted by Fox News Digital about the matter, also deferred comment to the Justice Department and FBI.  

Separately, The Wall Street Journal cited an official saying an arrest could happen as soon as Thursday. 

LEAKER OF CLASSIFIED US INTELLIGENCE WORKS ON MILITARY BASE, POSTED THE DOCUMENTS ON DISCORD: REPORT

President Biden said earlier Thursday that the U.S. is “getting close” to finding the person responsible for leaking Pentagon documents that the Department of Defense has described as containing “sensitive and highly-classified material.”  

“I can’t right now [give an update]. There is a full-blown investigation going on with the intelligence community and Justice Department and they are getting close,” Biden told reporters during his trip to Ireland. “I don’t have an answer for you.”  

The president also said “I’m concerned that it happened but there is nothing contemporaneous that I’m aware of that is of great consequence.”  

 

The Washington Post first reported last night that the person behind the leak is a man in his 20s who worked on a military base and shared the classified information on the chat app Discord. 

The top-secret intel that has been shared online included movements of high-ranking political leaders, updates on military forces, detailed charts of battlefield conditions in Ukraine and satellite images of the aftermath of Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian facilities. Other documents, according to the report, included the potential trajectory of North Korean ballistic nuclear missiles that could reach the U.S. and pictures and information on the surveillance technology attached to the Chinese spy balloon that the Biden administration allowed to float across the U.S. in February. 

Fox News’ Sarah Tobianski and Lorraine Taylor contributed to this report.