White House doesn’t expect additional leaks as investigators search for Israel leaker – Washington Examiner
The White House is currently investigating the leak of classified documents related to Israel’s planned response to Iran, following an incident where documents dated October 15 and 16 were shared online via the messaging platform Telegram by an account named “Middle East Spectator.” The leaked documents reportedly detail Israel’s expected military actions in retaliation for Iran launching ballistic missiles at Israel on October 1. National Security Council coordinator John Kirby expressed deep concern over the leakage, emphasizing the unacceptable nature of classified information becoming public and assuring that President Biden is closely monitoring the investigation to identify the source of the leak and implement mitigation measures. The investigation is being led by the Department of Defense, which has not confirmed whether the leak was due to a breach of unsecured information or an internal source with the clearance to access the documents. Kirby noted that there are no indications that further leaks are expected.
White House doesn’t expect additional leaks as investigators search for Israel leaker
The White House does not believe further leaks will occur as the administration races to uncover who shared classified documents involving Israel’s expected retaliatory attack against Iran.
Two documents, dated Oct. 15 and 16, purportedly from U.S. government agencies, the National Security Agency and the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, on Israel’s expected response began circulating online Friday after being posted on Telegram by an account called “Middle East Spectator.”
The leak comes as Israel is planning to retaliate against Iran for launching about 180 ballistic missiles at Israel on Oct. 1. It also comes as Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon against Hamas and Hezbollah, both of which are supported by Tehran, have strained the U.S.-Israeli relationship.
“We’re deeply concerned,” National Security Council coordinator John Kirby told reporters. “The President remains deeply concerned about any leakage of classified information into the public domain, that that is not supposed to happen, and it’s unacceptable when it does. So he’s deeply concerned about that, and you can rest assured that he will be actively monitoring the progress of the investigative effort to figure out how this happened, and obviously he’ll be very interested in hearing any mitigation measures and recommendations that come as a result of the investigative efforts.”
The two documents were sharable within the “Five Eyes,” which are the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia.
The NSC spokesman could not specify whether the documents were leaked by someone with clearance to access them or if the government was hacked and the hackers then published the material. Earlier this year, Iranian hackers were able to infiltrate the Trump campaign, and the hackers then sought to distribute internal information to President Joe Biden’s campaign and news outlets.
Kirby said the Department of Defense is investigating the unauthorized disclosure, which did not respond to a request for comment about who was leading the effort, and he added, “There is no indication that we have a reason to suspect additional documents of sort finding its way into the domain.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to confirm the leaked documents were authentic.
The Pentagon revamped its policies toward authorization and classifications over the last couple of years after a low-level Air National Guardsman was convicted of leaking hundreds of classified documents over several months. Airman Jack Teixeira had been taking photos of and copying down classified information to share with friends on the Discord platform. He did so for several months before officials caught on and a massive manhunt ensued.
Several of the documents he leaked involved the Russia-Ukraine war. In March 2024, Teixeira was sentenced to a maximum of nearly 17 years in jail after pleading guilty to six counts of willful retention and transmission of classified information.
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