New York and Washington The US government has admitted it was caught unawares in the leaked intelligence documents scandal. The confidential information “was on the internet somewhere, and exactly where and who had access to it, we just don’t know at this point,” US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said Tuesday. “We take this matter very seriously and we will turn every stone until we find the source of the leak.”
The White House had previously warned of new leaks. “We don’t know who is behind it, we don’t know the motive,” White House spokesman for the National Security Council John Kirby said on Monday. When asked if there was a risk of further unauthorized releases, he replied: “The truth and the honest answer to that question is: we don’t know. And that’s bloody troubling.”
According to Kirby, several US authorities are busy sifting through the documents that have appeared on the Internet and locating the authors of the distribution.
A secret service report on Ukrainian plans for an offensive against Russia was published online on Thursday. According to the New York Times, more than a hundred classified documents circulating on Twitter and other platforms included forecasts of when Ukraine’s air defenses could be exhausted. More information finally surfaced on Friday, including intelligence reports on China, the security situation in the Indo-Pacific and the Middle East.
Documents had appeared on various websites and on social media. They have different levels of secrecy, up to the highest – “top secret”. According to “Politico”, a first installment had been in circulation since the beginning of March, when it first appeared on Discord, a social media platform popular with gamers.
The leak was not noticed until weeks later
According to his own statements, US Secretary of Defense Austin only found out about the data leak last Thursday, when the first US media became aware of it. “We have referred the matter to the Justice Department, which has opened a criminal investigation,” he said. The FBI took over the investigation.
As long as the investigations were ongoing, he could not comment further. “But we take it very, very seriously.” According to a spokesman, Austin holds a daily crisis round to assess the damage to national security. A task force is checking the scope of the information and checking who might have had access to the documents.
The scandal is explosive on several levels: On the one hand, it creates a diplomatic crisis between the United States and its allies. US partners South Korea and Australia requested more information from the Americans and their espionage efforts.
The security adviser believes further revelations are possible.
(Photo: IMAGO/ZUMA Wire)
The leaked documents also raise questions about whether the US government adequately protects highly sensitive information. Ten years ago, whistleblower Edward Snowden leaked top-secret information about US spying practices, and transatlantic relations had suffered as a result.
Concerns have been raised in Washington in recent days whether the leaked information could give Russia a strategic advantage.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke on the phone with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Tuesday. “Working closely with our allies, we can assure you that we are protecting our intelligence community and prioritizing our security partnerships,” he said.
Some documents have been changed
The documents provide information on the status of the war in Ukraine and they assess the strength and capabilities of the Ukrainian and Russian armed forces. They also contain CIA intelligence reports on foreign capitals, from Cairo to Ankara to Seoul.
Among other things, you will learn details about US efforts to spy on South Korea and Turkish cooperation with Israel. The releases are said to relate to dozens of pages of confidential Pentagon briefings and, according to the US government, are mostly genuine.
Some documents had been tampered with, US officials said. However, corresponding changes were probably made after the publication on the Internet. It is unclear who made the changes to the reports and why.
Some of the documents manipulated American estimates of the number of Ukrainian war casualties upwards, while at the same time lowering estimates of the number of Russian troops killed.
For now, many question marks remain: is it a leak or a hack? For information or disinformation? And who is publishing it? Speculations in Washington range from a coup by Russia to a ruse by a US secret agent.
The release came in the middle of a two-week recess in the US Congress. Senate Majority Leader, Democrat Chuck Schumer, demanded that all senators be briefed on the leak when they return to Washington next week.
“Any leak of classified information is extremely alarming,” said Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner. “As the Pentagon investigates this matter, Americans should remember that Russia has a long history of disinformation efforts.”
It is wise not to trust “any claims you will find on the internet about these documents.”
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