A top White House spokesman said that journalists should not report on leaked Pentagon intelligence documents, saying that the material has “no business in the public domain.”
During a press briefing on Monday, spokesman John Kirby was pressed repeatedly about why and how the intelligence documents made it onto several websites, including Twitter, Discord, 4chan, Telegram, and more. Some of those documents included alleged death toll numbers for both Ukraine and Russia amid the year-long conflict as well as alleged intelligence assessments targeting the governments of Israel, South Korea, Egypt, and other U.S. military partners.
Despite Kirby’s comment, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, CNN, Fox News, and other corporate news outlets have widely reported on them. The documents have also been widely circulated on social media and in the foreign press as well.
U.S. officials are trying to trace the source of the leak, reviewing how they share secrets internally and dealing with the diplomatic fallout, Kirby suggested.
U.S. officials are still not sure how the documents were acquired, who obtained them, or when they were leaked, Kirby said. It’s also not clear if the leak has been contained, he added.
“We don’t know who is behind this. We don’t know what the motive is ... we don’t know what else might be out there,” he said, emphasizing: “We know that some of them have been doctored ... we are still working through the validity of all of the documents that we know are out there.”
Kirby did not elaborate on what documents may have been doctored. Some Ukrainian officials told U.S. media outlets this week that the ones pertaining to troop losses in connection to the Ukraine–Russia war are part of a Kremlin disinformation plot, while South Korean officials have told media outlets that intelligence documents about Seoul are also fake.
Some analysts and observers have speculated that the documents—some of which were marked “TOP SECRET” or “NOFORN” (Not Releasable to Foreign Nationals)—may have been leaked by an individual or group within the U.S. intelligence community or military. Some of the leaked documents appeared to have been prepared by or for the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Meanwhile, another intelligence official, Chris Meagher, told reporters Monday that the leak represents a threat to U.S. national security. A Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation has been opened into the matter, he noted.
“These photos appear to show documents similar in format to those used to provide daily updates to our senior leaders on Ukraine and Russia-related operations as well as other intelligence updates,” Meagher told reporters.
Ukraine Update
It comes as Russian forces pounded frontline cities in eastern Ukraine with air strikes and artillery attacks. Russians pressed on with their offensive in the eastern Donetsk region where several cities and towns came under heavy bombardment, Ukraine’s general staff said on Tuesday.
Ukrainian forces repelled several attacks, it said, as the Russian military kept up its effort to take control of Bakhmut. A top Ukrainian commander accused Moscow of using “scorched earth” tactics.
“The enemy switched to so-called scorched earth tactics from Syria. It is destroying buildings and positions with air strikes and artillery fire,” Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, said of Bakhmut.
As the battles ground on, CNN claimed Ukraine was forced to amend some military plans ahead of its anticipated counter-offensive because of the leak of dozens of secret documents.
