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Greetings and salutations.

Unfortunately, I have the sad duty to announce that Horse was relieved of position as Jarl of Foreign Affairs and forced to resign his post as Field Marshal of the Hvitt Riddaral after an investigation showed him to have leaked private military and Cabinet posts to the FRA. Shortly after being relieved of his positions, he resigned Citizenship and left the region.

Yesterday afternoon, Joshua Ravenclaw alerted me that he had received an email notification from Pastebin about an item placed there that appeared to be of a sensitive nature to this region, which you can find here. This post was from a discussion held in the Riksråd back in February about a potential colonial program, which was ultimately rejected as too divisive. A simple search also revealed this post, which is a copy of the orders given to the Hvitt Riddaral at the beginning of our operation in the region of Nowhere. The two pastes were made minutes apart from each other, making it highly likely they were from the same person.

From here, an investigation began. We discovered that only five people had access to both the Riksråd and military forums: myself, Denth Kasten, Alterra, Chanku, and Horse. I then delved into the access logs to get a timeline of who had accessed the topics on that day in relation to when the posts were posted to Pastebin, and discovered this:

Nowhere Topic Access Log

19:28:35PM - Accessed by Wintermoot
19:39:09PM - Accessed by Chanku
19:56:13PM - Accessed by Wintermoot
20:04:42PM - Accessed by Horse
20:06:26PM - Accessed by Wintermoot
20:53:33PM - Accessed by Wintermoot
21:56:17PM - Accessed by Wintermoot
22:57:40PM - Accessed by Horse
22:58:07PM - POSTED TO PASTEBIN
23:31:11PM - Accessed by Wintermoot
23:57:28PM - Accessed by Chanku

Colonization Topic Access

18:52:24PM - Accessed by Wintermoot
18:53:23PM - Accessed by Reon
19:14:53PM - Accessed by Chanku
19:29:30PM - Accessed by Wintermoot
22:39:57PM - Accessed by Denth Kasten
23:03:04PM - Accessed by Horse
23:04:42PM - POSTED TO PASTEBIN

As you can see, each paste was made within a minute of Horse accessing the relevant topics. From this, we could safely conclude that Horse was the person responsible for the leaks. Additionally, when questioned, our ambassador to the Global Right Alliance, Chanku, mentioned that the topic of a potential colonization program in Wintreath had been discussed in that region, making it likely that the information was leaked to the FRA, as they are a member region of that organization.

Discussion With Horse

[22:26] * @Horse rolls in
[22:26] <@Wintermoot>                         We have a fairly serious problem
[22:26] <@Horse>                              What of happened
[22:26] <@Horse>                              Also why is it when I take breaks bad shit happens
[22:26] <@Wintermoot>                         Someone's been leaking stuff from our private forums
[22:27] <@Horse>                              wat
[22:28] <@Horse>                              *sighs*
[22:28] <@Horse>                              Links please
[22:28] <@Wintermoot>                         Yeah...someone contacted me today, saying they found this on pastebin: http://pastebin.com/Cte5QmsW
[22:28] <@Horse>                              This is why I take breaks
[22:28] <@Horse>                             
[22:28] <@Horse>                              Oh D:
[22:28] <@Wintermoot>                         This is the Riksrad first post on colonization
[22:29] <@Horse>                              I can see that
[22:29] <@Wintermoot>                         I then did a search and found this, posted just minutes before http://pastebin.com/gXnhB9YM
[22:29] <@Wintermoot>                         Our topic on the Nowhere mission
[22:29] <@Horse>                              To be fair, the titles are at least funny
[22:29] <@Horse>                             
[22:29] <@Horse>                              But what is a Cockamany
[22:30] <@Wintermoot>                         Obviously it's pretty concerning...
[22:30] * @Horse nods
[22:31] <@Wintermoot>                         You're involved in a lot of regions...have you heard anything about a region being interested in our policies there?
[22:32] <@Horse>                              Ummm
[22:32] <@Horse>                              Let me go checl
[22:32] <@Horse>                              *check
[22:34] <@Horse>                              Not in any I am checking
[22:35] <@Wintermoot>                         That's disappointing, obviously someone leaked to someone that's interested
[22:36] * @Horse nods
[22:36] <@Wintermoot>                         Well, Daws and I have been investigating on our end. Fortunately, only four people other than myself have access to both forums.
[22:37] <@Horse>                              I'll start asking people
[22:38] <@Wintermoot>                         Do you have any suspecions right off hand?
[22:38] <@Horse>                              Nope
[22:39] <@Wintermoot>                         Well, there's myself, Daws, Alt, Chanku, and you
[22:40] * @Horse nods
[22:40] <@Dawsinian>                          We've cleared Alt, because he wasn't online at the time.
[22:40] * @Horse nods
[22:40] <@Dawsinian>                          But the other four people were all online.
[22:41] <@Wintermoot>                         And obviously I wouldn't be leaking from my own forum
[22:41] <@Dawsinian>                          Right.
[22:41] <@Horse>                              ^
[22:41] <@Dawsinian>                          So that leaves Me, Chanku, and you.
[22:41] * @Horse nods
[22:41] <@Wintermoot>                         I was able to pull the access logs for those topics on the night it was leaked.
[22:46] <@Wintermoot>                         Should I keep going on with this?
[22:46] <@Dawsinian>                          Horse?
[22:46] <@Horse>                              Sure?
[22:47] <@Wintermoot>                         We know beyond any doubt that you leaked those posts.
[22:47] <@Horse>                              OH WAIT
[22:47] <@Horse>                              NOW I REMEMBER
[22:47] <@Horse>                              SORRY
[22:47] <@Dawsinian>                          >_>
[22:48] <@Horse>                              FRA wanted to know what we were doing in Nowhere, so I showed them the post
[22:48] <@Dawsinian>                          >_>
[22:48] <@Dawsinian>                          And the Colonization topic?
[22:48] <@Horse>                              That one I think was FRA as well
[22:48] <@Wintermoot>                         What does the FRA need with our Cabinet discussions?
[22:48] <@Dawsinian>                          Right, then.
[22:49] <@Horse>                              They wanted to know what we were doing in Nowhere, so they asked to see that
[22:49] <@Dawsinian>                          [22:49:35] <Wintermoot> What does the FRA need with our Cabinet discussions?
[22:49] <@Wintermoot>                         Did they also happen to ask if we were discussing a colonial policy?
[22:50] <@Horse>                              Yeah, which was odd
[22:50] <@Wintermoot>                         Really?
[22:50] * @Dawsinian takes notes
[22:51] <@Horse>                              Yeah, someone (I forget who) asked "Why are you going to colonize that one region"
[22:51] <@Dawsinian>                          That explanation is clearly posted in the Nowhere topic.
[22:52] <@Dawsinian>                          Which still does not answer the question about leaking the Riksrad discussion.
[22:52] <@Horse>                              They wanted to see it, so I showed them
[22:53] <@Dawsinian>                          So that's how we run a government? If someone wants it, they get it?
[22:53] <@Wintermoot>                         But if they had learned about it from someone else, surely they could have shown them
[22:53] <@Wintermoot>                         About our colony discussions
[22:53] <@Horse>                              If someone who have friendly relations with wants something, there shouldn't be a reason NOT to show it
[22:54] <@Wintermoot>                         You know as well as I do that if a military wants that kind of access they make a diplomatic agreement to exchange military liaisons, and even then they wouldn't have access to our private Cabinet discussions.
[22:55] <@Horse>                              Its not like I showed it to TBR or TBH
[22:56] <@Dawsinian>                          You act like this is no big deal.
[22:56] <@Horse>                              And I showed it to people like Wibble and others. Its not like I showed it to some random people in FRA chat.
[22:56] <@Horse>                              It really isnt
[22:56] <@Dawsinian>                          You posted it on a publically accessible website.
[22:57] <@Dawsinian>                          I searched "Wintreath" on pastebin and these both came up.
[22:57] <@Horse>                              Which I really doubt people will be looking at 24/7
[22:57] <@Horse>                              Especially with the names "Cupcake recipe"
[22:57] <@Dawsinian>                          TBR and TBH are capable of typing in a search box.
[22:58] <@Horse>                              They knew well before this we were in there.
[22:58] <@Dawsinian>                          Cupcake recipe - Pastebin.com
[22:58] <@Dawsinian>                          pastebin.com/Cte5QmsW
[22:58] <@Dawsinian>                          Apr 12, 2014 ... ... coming to an agreement with other regions that involve them becoming colonies of Wintreath in exchange for some kind of benefit for us.
[22:58] <@Horse>                              Even before I posted those logs, Wraith or Venicio asked me what we were doing in their. I didn't tell them, but they knew
[22:58] <@Dawsinian>                          That's the result of a search.
[22:59] <@Wintermoot>                         Of course they knew we were in the region...but that doesn't have anything to do with a Cabinet topic that'd taken place months beforehand.
[23:00] <@Horse>                              So why it an issue that I showed FRA and other people what we were doing.
[23:00] <@Dawsinian>                          Basically, Horse, I'm going to give you two options. You either have 24 hours to resign as Field Marshal and leave honorably, or I will remove you myself. That's your deadline, no arguments. You don't leak classified information, plain and simple.
[23:00] <@Horse>                              k
[23:01] * @Horse writes up resignation letter
[23:01] <@Dawsinian>                          Wintermoot, anything you'd like to say?
[23:01] <@Horse>                              Where would you like it posted?
[23:01] <@Dawsinian>                          The main military forums, please.
[23:01] <@Wintermoot>                         I had hoped you would be upfront and honest when we started this conversation...I've always thought you were a person of integrity.
[23:01] <@Horse>                              l
[23:01] <@Horse>                              k]
[23:02] <@Horse>                              Wintermoot, in all honesty, I didn't even remember it
[23:02] <@Wintermoot>                         Your answers were evasive, you can't adequately explain why the FRA would need info from our Cabinet forums, and parts of your reasoning don't make any sense.
[23:03] <@Wintermoot>                         This is why I don't even care for GP much anymore...it just seems to be a haven for disappointment.
[23:04] <@Horse>                              They simply wanted to see it is all, they didn't want to see the whole forum
[23:04] <@Wintermoot>                         They just out of nowhere asked to see a topic on potential colonization polices?
[23:05] <@Horse>                              They wanted to know the reasoning of why we were in their, I told them why, and they asked for any more info on it
[23:05] <@Dawsinian>                          *there
[23:05] <@Horse>                              There
[23:06] <@Wintermoot>                         But that wasn't more info on it...since we never intended to colonize Nowhere to start with, and that was made very clear to everyone that asked.
[23:06] <@Horse>                              Its something they were interested in seeing, so I showed them
[23:07] <@Wintermoot>                         I think you were fundamentally upset that we were even considering something that could be perceived as imperialistic
[23:08] <@Horse>                              Not upset, but I didn't like it.
[23:08] <@Wintermoot>                         And so you alerted the FRA to the potential
[23:09] <@Horse>                              No, they wanted to see what we were doing, and I told them. Simple
[23:10] <@Wintermoot>                         If they directly asked you about our discussion, that would have meant they had a spy in the Riksrad that told them...then they come to ask you for more information, and the exact posts. Then you fail to report it until a third person informed as and we had to play 20 questions tonight.
[23:12] <@Horse>                              wat. All they wanted to know is WHY we were in Nowhere. I told them.
[23:13] <@Wintermoot>                         http://pastebin.com/Cte5QmsW
[23:13] <@Wintermoot>                         ^what does that have to do with Nowhere then?
[23:14] <@Horse>                              They wanted to know if there was anything more on nowhere, or something like that. I thought that was similar to the topic at hand, so I showed them
[23:16] <@Wintermoot>                         As someone that's been trusted with private government areas for many regions, you should have known better...even if I find that an adequate answer, which I don't.
[23:17] <@Horse>                              For the love of god, it was a policy that people wanted to know about , and even then, it was a org. we have relations with, and Ok relations at that. I didn't reveal it to Cormac or some shit like that.
[23:19] <@Wintermoot>                         It's a policy that people had no right to know about, because it's a policy that didn't even exist yet...it was just a discussion in the Cabinet. If anyone could be privy to those discussions, we would just make it a public forum.
[23:21] <@Horse>                              People should be able to know this kind of stuff. Where not discussing a spy in the region, were not discussing a possible coup, were discussing a policy that would affect relations. That's something people should know about
[23:24] <@Wintermoot>                         It's something people should know about if and when we even decide to have a policy, which we ended up not even doing. tbqh, if there were a law on the books for espionage, I'd give the whole thing to the Storting and let them decide
[23:25] <@Wintermoot>                         But the fact of the matter is, this is a serious violation of trust and of the privacy of the government to have its own internal discussions. I'm not privy to the internal discussions of the FRA or any other group/region, nor should I be...and I think regardless of what you say, you do know better.
[23:27] <@Wintermoot>                         So in the absence of law, I have to make a call...and you violated the trust placed in you as a member of the Riksrad. I just can't get around that.
[23:28] <@Wintermoot>                         So I have to say, thank you for your service to the region, but you are relieved of all Cabinet positions as of this time.
[23:29] <@Horse>                              k
[23:29] * @Dawsinian slams his gavel
[23:30] <@Horse>                             
[23:30] <@Horse>                              Well bye then

When we discussed the situation with Horse, we decided to initially act as if we were still investigating the leak. As someone I have held up as an example of integrity previously, I wanted to give him them opportunity to come clean honorably before being specifically implicated. As you can in the discussion, he not only did not do this, but went along with it to the point of offering to help out in the investigation. When we told him of the evidence against him, he said he remembered that he did indeed pass along the posts, but that the FRA had directly asked him for it and that he had seen nothing wrong with providing the posts. He implied the the FRA was already aware of this discussion, which I personally find implausible because if this were the case, they could have gotten the post from the original source.

Overall, his replies were found to be evasive and inadequate, in spite of the many chances given to come clean. I could certainly understand the FRA requesting military information, although to pass along posts without a liaison agreement in place is questionable; however, he could not explain why the FRA should be privy to our Cabinet discussions and seemed dumbfounded by the idea that the Riksråd forums were private and not to be shared, in spite of him serving on Cabinets in many regions where I'm sure they have similar privacy rules on their Cabinet forums.

Ultimately, his initial actions, his failing to immediately admit guilt, and his evasive and questionable responses made me realize that I could no longer trust him as a member of the Riksråd. Serving on the Riksråd is a great privilege that comes with many responsibilities, one of which is to maintain of the privacy of the Riksråd forum, an area where sensitive topics are discussed and frank opinions are given. If he leaked a post from this discussion, could he be trusted not to leak a discussion on FRA relations, for example? Thus, he was relieved of his Cabinet position. It is regrettable that he decided to completely leave the region afterwards, but it is his choice and it has been decided that no further action will be taken against him.

Nor will any action be taken against the FRA. While by all accounts, including his, it is the organization which he leaked to, it does not appear that he was conducting espionage in an official manner. I suspect it's more likely to have been a grave error in judgement that he made in relation to some conversation about Wintreath within the FRA. However, posts from private government areas are NOT to be leaked without approval under ANY circumstances. That fact, combined with his lack of regret over his actions, made it impossible for me to allow him to continue working as Jarl of Foreign Affairs, a position which requires access to such private government forums.

For now, we simply try to do better and move on. We will considers ways to make it so that situations such as this are minimized, and to make our private areas more secure. It is a regrettable situation, but the best course of action is to work to try to prevent it from happening again in the future, and I think that's something we can do. I personally thank Ravenclaw for alerting the government to this breach, and to Denth for assisting in the investigation and questioning. Without their actions, this breach may never have been found and investigated to the extent that it was.

Regards,
-Inric Nordrim Kestar (Wintermoot of Wintreath)
-Monarch of Wintreath

This is really sad...
Personaly i never thought that any external element could find information about us!
This is really really sad...It's really nice to see that we took immediate actions.

Well this is the hardest move on we can have...It was always on my strongest belief that we shouldn't place people that they were envolved in many regions at once, at govermental possitions!

It was always on my strongest belief that we shouldn't place people that they were envolved in many regions at once, at govermental possitions!

I disagree with this wholeheartedly. A person's membership does not necessarily reflect their ability to lead.

As for the statement from Wintermoot, I thank you for the official statement.

The regionalism vs cosmopolitanism debate is always an interesting one.

I was a firm regionalist for many years. Having little activity outside the GRA until this year, I support the cosmos.

Having seen the disasters that were unleashed in Spiritus, I've become much more regionalist in the last year.

Indeed.

The funny thing about this is that from my understanding,  leaking anything out of the FRA forums is a bannable offence but they want to pry into regional private cabinet discussions.  One of the reasons why they are hypocrites.

Still Horse did serve well and he should be commended.   It is a shame how it turned out

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The funny thing about this is that from my understanding,  leaking anything out of the FRA forums is a bannable offence but they want to pry into regional private cabinet discussions.  One of the reasons why they are hypocrites.

 ;D
 

There was no evidence that the FRA 'pried' into the regional private forums. If that were the case we would have certainly severed relations with them.

I feel really bad in a situation like this.

Even though it was most likely intentional, the feeling of trust is one of importance. Once you lose it, it's hard to garner it back.

There was no evidence that the FRA 'pried' into the regional private forums. If that were the case we would have certainly severed relations with them.

Don't  put it past them.  They have done so before

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Well I still believe that it's better to place people in the goverment that are not envolved in many regions...for example since the time that Horse was voted and got the Jar.of Information, I never saw him that much of active than the elections time...And here we have a leak from our forums...Which came from a person that is envolved in many regions...Now this makes me skeptic. By whose approval he chose to post a part of our Secret project or Plans (call it as you like) to a foreign goverments forum?

involved* and the FRA is an organisation not a region

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It's certainly unfortunate, Horse did know what he was doing as Field Marshall. Well, he was good at running it I suppose.

But regardless of which way you think about this, the issue has been resolved at this point and it would be in our best interests to work toward preventing a similar occurrence. Nothing too extreme, but maybe some simple legislation or restrictions to tighten up security within the government and HR.