A self-described “internet micro-celebrity” is at the center of a Pentagon document leak scandal after someone posted the sensitive documents into his Discord channel.
The 20-year-old, who goes by the username wow_mao, was thrown into the mainstream public eye earlier this month when a volunteer moderator in his Discord group posted images of the documents.
On 1 March and 2 March, a user in wow_mao’s Discord posted “over 30 documents, many of which are marked ‘Top Secret,’” according to Bellingcat.com
The post was out-of-the-ordinary for wow_mao’s Discord channel, which is typically a place for young people to share memes and jokes.
“I can sort of understand how sharing big, private, military secrets could be a funny thing to do among your internet friends,” wow_mao said in a YouTube video posted on Monday.
The documents contained national security secrets about Russia, China, Ukraine, and South Korea, according to The New York Times. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) opened an inquiry into the leak on Friday.
“But c’mon, take care of yourself and stay away from doing stuff like this,” wow_mao said adding that he “completely” denounces sharing sensitive documents.
Some of the documents included information about Ukraine’s air defence system as it continues to fight Russia.
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said it was unclear if there were more documents expected to be leaked, who was behind the leak, or what the motive is.
A spokesperson for the Pentagon, Chris Meagher, previously told The Independent that people need to be cautious “promoting or amplifying any of these documents” because some “slides” appeared to be doctored.
Although wow_mao and his Discord are getting attention for the leak, it seems it did not originate there. The origin of the leak, while still not confirmed, may have come from another Discord channel where the documents were posted possibly as early as January, according to reporting from the Associated Press.
In his YouTube video, wow_mao said he is “just a roadblock the CIA had to go through in the trail to find whoever actually leaked that stuff.”
Speaking with The New York Times, wow_mao said while the publicity has been good for his channel “as long as I don’t end up in prison” he does not want his identity revealed.
“I’m a s*** posting, internet, micro-celebrity and I’d like to keep it that way,” wow_mao said in his YouTube video.
