House of Cards’ third season isn’t scheduled to appear on Netflix until Feb. 27, but the series appeared in full on the streaming service Wednesday.

House of Cards Leak

The third season of House of Cards was up for viewing Wednesday afternoon. Roughly 20 minutes after the leak, the season was taken down. Even after Netflix pulled the episodes from the service, subscribers who had loaded the episodes before hand will have continued access to them.

Netflix has blamed the leak on a “technical glitch” and reassured fans that the season will be back up later this month. “Due to a technical glitch some Frank Underwood fans got a sneak peak. He’ll be back on Netflix on Feb. 27,” Netflix said in a statement.

The House of Cards official Twitter account took the opportunity to make the incident into a joke. “This is Washington,” the account tweeted. “There’s always a leak.”

This is Washington. There’s always a leak. All 13 episodes will launch February 27.

— House of Cards (@HouseofCards) February 11, 2015

Some, like reporter Piers Morgan, are not quick to believe Netflix’s statement or quippy tweeting and believe the leak was a part of a marketing ploy.

I’m sure there are some people who actually believe today’s #HouseofCards leak by @netflix was an accident…. #PRmasterstroke — Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) February 11, 2015

I’d eat my hat if the “House of Cards” release was really accidental. https://t.co/zzsqQnqOAj pic.twitter.com/NZP5Hk2arS

— Chris Cillizza (@TheFix) February 11, 2015

You know the “leak” of #HouseOfCards? Yeah that was clearly on purpose #PRStunt — Samuel J. Woods (@heysamwoods) February 12, 2015