US government close to identifying person responsible for leaking classified documents – Biden

He said this during a visit to Ireland, CNN reports.

"There’s a full-blown investigation going on, as you know. The intelligence community and the Justice Department. And they’re getting close. I don’t have an answer for you," he said, answering a journalist's question.

In addition, Biden noted that he was concerned not about the content of the leaked documents, but about the fact that the leak had occurred.

"I’m 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," the US president assured.

It is noted that the criminal investigation is being conducted by the FBI office in Washington, including a group of counterintelligence officers with experience in investigating information leaks.

• On April 6, The New York Times wrote about the leak of classified documents detailing US and NATO plans to build up the Ukrainian army before the planned counteroffensive. The Pentagon launched an investigation. Almost immediately, a new batch of classified documents appeared on social media, allegedly revealing US national security secrets regarding Ukraine, the Middle East, and China.

• Already on April 8, the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine reported that the so-called classified military documents on the plans for the Ukrainian Armed Forces' offensive were in fact a forgery and a special operation by Russian intelligence services. Russia could have forged the documents to disrupt Western aid to Ukraine.

• On April 9, investigative journalists from Bellingcat found out that the original source of the leaked secret Pentagon documents on the Ukrainian Armed Forces' counteroffensive was a Discord server. CNN also reported that the Ukrainian command changed some of its military plans after the leak of classified Pentagon documents to the network.

• Currently, the Pentagon is still assessing the extent of the leak, which is also related to Ukraine. Advisor to Ukraine’s presidential office Mykhailo Podolyak, in turn, noted that the documents did not contain information about the Ukrainian Armed Forces' counteroffensive. Some of these documents did not pass the authenticity test, and the White House called them fakes. 

• And Associated Press journalists learned that the person who published the secret Pentagon documents on Discord may be a child.

• Later, CNN reported that the published documents reveal the collection of information by the US intelligence community about its key partners and adversaries and competitors, including China.

• CBS journalists claimed that the FBI is working to track the leak, while the Pentagon is reducing the number of people who have access to the classified information that was made public.

• The Washington Post spoke to an alleged member of the Discord chat room where the Pentagon documents were leaked: the authors claimed that a "gun enthusiast" who worked at a military base was behind it