Oh wait - not a leftie like Ed Snowden?

Edward Snowden didn't take strategic intelligence and plaster it on the internet.  He gave what he took to responsible journalists who vetted it, taking out names and information that might put people at risk. He didn't do it to impress some gobshites. He did it after careful and thoughtful planning to inform the American public they were being spied on by their own government. 

The man responsible for the leak of hundreds of classified Pentagon documents is reported to be a young, racist gun enthusiast who worked on a military base, and who was seeking to impress two dozen fellow members of an internet chat group.

[...]

The leaked documents have laid bare secrets about Ukraine’s preparations for a spring counter-offensive, US spying on allies such as Ukraine, South Korea and Israel, and the tensions between Washington and allied capitals over arming Kyiv.

[...]

The Washington Post interviewed a teenage member of the group, who described the man, referred to by the initials “OG”, from their online correspondence, and shared photographs and videos.

  Guardian

So the Post found the culprit before the US government did. Better sources?

The Post also viewed a video of a man identified as OG at a shooting range with a large rifle.

“He yells a series of racial and antisemitic slurs into the camera, then fires several rounds at a target,” the report said. OG told fellow members of the same internet group that he worked on a military base, which was not named in the report, where his job involved viewing large amounts of classified information.

[...]

The origins of the leaks on Thug Shaker Central was first reported on Sunday by the Bellingcat investigative journalism group, which also interviewed the same member, who is under 18.

[...]

[T]he Washington Post said the teen member, who had been in touch with OG “in the past few days” had yet to be interviewed by any federal law enforcement officials by the time of publication on Wednesday night, even though the justice department began a criminal investigation and an FBI manhunt was launched at the beginning of the week.

They're not very good at this, are they? They also didn't find Edward Snowden. He outed himself.

[The leak may likely be] the consequence of a Pentagon policy of granting top secret security clearances to huge numbers of service members, civilians and contractors. The number of employees and contractors in the entire US government with top secret clearance is about 1.25 million.

And one of those was Donald J Trump!

According to the teenage member of the group interviewed by the Post, OG “had a dark view of the government”, portraying the government, and particularly law enforcement and the intelligence agencies, as a repressive force. He ranted about “government overreach”.

The Post said details were confirmed anonymously by other members of the group, and that it had viewed a total 300 photographs of classified documents, three times the number previously thought to be circulating.

[...]

OG’s current whereabouts are unknown. The teenage group member told the Post he “seemed very confused and lost as to what to do”.

Sounds like a really brilliant guy.

In his final message to his fellow group members, OG told them to “keep low and delete any information that could possibly relate to him”, including any copies of the classified documents.

I'm guessing they're not going to be concerned about covering his ass for him.

The Ukrainian government is assessing the possible damage from the disclosures. The files give details of 12 newly formed brigades, equipped with western battle tanks and armoured vehicles, which are likely to lead the assault against dug-in Russian positions. “For sure, people are not happy,” one official admitted on Wednesday. “Ukraine was criticised last year for not being a trustworthy partner. At the beginning of the invasion, we weren’t provided with weapons because of this lack of trust. We lost a lot of territory and people as a result. This perception was wrong. And now this leakage happens from the US side.”

The world has had some experience with the US trustworthiness in recent years.

And, by the way, it's time to give amnesty to Edward Snowden and let him come home.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 11:24 am:  Speaking of Donald J Trump having sensitve security information...

Federal investigators are asking witnesses whether former President Donald J. Trump showed off to aides and visitors [an unidentified] map he took with him when he left office that contains sensitive intelligence information.

[...]

One person briefed on the matter said investigators have asked about Mr. Trump showing the map while aboard a plane. Another said that, based on the questions they were asking, investigators appeared to believe that Mr. Trump showed the map to at least one adviser after leaving office.

A third person with knowledge of the investigation said the map might also have been shown to a journalist writing a book. The Washington Post has previously reported that investigators have asked about Mr. Trump showing classified material, including maps, to political donors.

Sure. He's on a maturity level with the idiot who leaked the classified documents to impress his gaming buddies.

Investigators have been gathering evidence about whether Mr. Trump had aides bring him boxes to sift through after a grand jury subpoena was issued in May for any government documents Mr. Trump still had in his possession.

  NYT

UPDATE 02:37 pm: Nabbed.

FBI agents made an arrest in North Dighton, Mass., Thursday afternoon, according to Boston TV news station WCVB, which said an armored vehicle was used.

  MSNBC

Maybe their limo was in the garage.

The arrest comes as authorities on Thursday were focusing on a 21-year-old Massachusetts Air National Guardsman as the suspected leaker.

I hope he had a lifetime's worth of fun on those games he was playing, because he won't get back online for a very, very long time.

According to interviews and documents in a report by The New York Times, the suspected leaker is Jack Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard's 102nd Intelligence Wing.

[...]

Biden also tried to downplay the harm caused by the leaks saying, "I am not concerned about the leak. I'm concerned that it happened, but there's nothing contemporaneous that I'm aware of that is of any consequence."

Maybe the Ukrainians have a different view.

[T]he leaker went by the moniker OG and ran the Thug Shaker Central discord server, where a small group of mostly young men would post racist memes and discuss video games.

UPDATE 04/22/2023:

UPDATE 04/30/2023:  We're learning some interesting things about this guy.  Not to mention the lax background investigations for security clearances.