An exclusive report by the Washington Post painted a picture late Wednesday of the man behind the leaks and offered insight into how the leaks came to be. The report was primarily sourced by information provided by a teen who first met the leaker online four years prior in a server for fans of the YouTuber Oxide.
A second individual who was part of the same online community corroborated the teen’s remarks under the condition of anonymity. The Post was also provided with some 300 images of classified documents, chat records and an audio recording that captures the source of the leaks speaking with his companions.