{"id":233822,"date":"2023-04-24T12:00:32","date_gmt":"2023-04-24T11:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=233822"},"modified":"2023-04-19T08:46:03","modified_gmt":"2023-04-19T07:46:03","slug":"pentagon-documents-leak-heres-what-you-need-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2023\/04\/pentagon-documents-leak-heres-what-you-need-to-know\/","title":{"rendered":"Pentagon Documents Leak: Here\u2019s What You Need to Know"},"content":{"rendered":"

Documents posted online appeared to reveal details of how US agencies spy on other nations, including allies.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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The Pentagon in Washington. (Charles Dharapak\/AP) (AP)<\/p><\/div>\n

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11 Apr 2023 – <\/span><\/em>A series of documents, purporting to contain highly classified Pentagon<\/a> intelligence related to the Ukraine war and information gathering on close US allies, have emerged online in recent weeks.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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As United States media has increasingly reported on the apparent leak, officials have walked a careful line in their response, with Pentagon spokesman Chris Meagher saying that the circulating photos \u201cappear to show documents similar in format\u201d to those provided to senior military leaders, but stressing that defence department staff were still assessing their authenticity.<\/p>\n

Several officials have also warned that at least some of the documents appear to be doctored, fuelling concerns that they could feed misinformation campaigns. On Monday, Meagher said the documents could pose \u201ca very serious risk to national security\u201d.<\/p>\n

While further details have continued to emerge, it is clear the situation has sent shock waves through the US administration, as it seeks to contain and assess the scope of any data breach, while roiling allies.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what you need to know.<\/p>\n

Where did the documents first emerge?<\/h2>\n

According to the investigative website Bellingcat, the documents appear to have first <\/a>emerged in photos posted on Discord, an online social media platform that is popular with gamers.<\/p>\n

The photos show creased documents placed on top of magazines and other household objects. Former officials who reviewed the photos told the New York Times they appeared to have been folded, possibly to be taken from a secure location in a pocket.<\/p>\n

Bellingcat further traced the leak to a now-defunct Discord server. Their research suggested that the documents had already appeared on social media in March, when some were dated. The open-source investigative website also said it had viewed evidence some of the documents were posted as far back as January on Discord.<\/p>\n