Federal investigation into classified docs leak heats up as U.S., allies race to contain fallout Revelations could pose diplomatic headaches with close allies: Ben Wolfgang
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/apr/10/federal-probe-classified-docs-leak-heats-us-allies/
The Pentagon, Justice Department and agencies across the federal government scrambled Monday to track down the source of a major classified documents leak and to limit the widening fallout in allied capitals from Jerusalem to Seoul, South Korea, where the revelations threatened to stoke domestic turmoil and friction with Washington.
The collateral damage from the leak, one of the most serious disclosures of sensitive information in years, has quickly spread far beyond American shores. Biden administration officials said they are in contact with allies because of signs that the individuals behind the leak are trying to sow discord between the U.S. and its closest partners.
At the Pentagon, officials called the leak a “very serious” risk to national security. They were careful to avoid confirming specific revelations in any of the materials, including apparent assessments of the Russia–Ukraine war and what appear to be internal political conversations in South Korea. The Defense Department has started an internal review, and the Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation.
“This team is really working to get our arms around everything that has to do with this distribution,” Pentagon spokesman Chris Meagher told reporters. “It’s a comprehensive effort. The department is trying to wrap its arms around what may have happened and the way ahead in terms of our response.”
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said President Biden has been getting regular briefings about the leak.
He said the administration isn’t sure whether more disclosures are on the horizon.
“We don’t know. We truly don’t know,” Mr. Kirby said.
Mr. Kirby said the information was not intended for public consumption and “should not be out there.” He pleaded for patience as the federal investigations proceed.
“We don’t know who’s behind this. We don’t know what the motive is,” he said. “We don’t know what else might be out there.”
The documents appear to have been posted to social media sites in early March but went virtually unnoticed until The New York Times reported about them Friday. The document dump contained more than 100 images of government papers with classification markings posted to social media sites, including Twitter.
The documents, most of which are several months old, contained information about U.S. weapons provided to Ukraine, the disposition of Ukrainian forces, and sensitive intelligence regarding several other nations, including Israel and South Korea.
Some of the leaked documents were marked “top secret,” the nation’s highest classification marking.
Many of the documents have since been deleted, though open-source intelligence sleuths have been able to download more than 60 of the papers.
The federal government has not confirmed that the documents are genuine, but Mr. Meagher said they appear to be similar to printed materials used during daily briefings and updates for Pentagon officials.
The documents seem to be photographs of printed materials.
Mr. Meagher confirmed that “it does appear slides have been altered,” with some key information apparently changed. One of the documents lists the number of estimated Russian military deaths so far in Ukraine at just 16,000.
Western officials put the number of Russian deaths at nearly 200,000.
The spokesman said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was first briefed on the scope of the leaks late last week.
It’s not clear whether the person who photographed the documents is the same one who made the alterations.
Global fallout
The incident has sparked a governmentwide investigation at home, but the potential damage extends around the globe.
Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said late Sunday that military officials have talked to allies during the widening fallout.
“Over the weekend, U.S. officials have engaged with allies and partners and have informed relevant congressional committees of jurisdiction about the disclosure. The Department of Defense’s highest priority is the defense of our nation and our national security,” she said.
At the White House, Mr. Kirby said administration officials have been in touch with “relevant allies and partners over the last couple of days at very high levels.”
Some information in the documents concerns some of America’s closest allies.
In Israel, one of the documents reportedly included information suggesting that Mossad, Israel’s intelligence service, had encouraged its staff and Israeli citizens to join domestic protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial reform plan.
Israel rejected that claim. Mr. Netanyahu called it “mendacious and without any foundation whatsoever.”
“The Mossad and its senior officials did not — and do not — encourage agency personnel to join the demonstrations against the government, political demonstrations or any political activity,” Mr. Netanyahu said, according to Reuters.
In South Korea, government officials said they would speak with their American counterparts about reports that the U.S. gathered signals intelligence related to South Korea’s internal debate over weapons sales to the U.S. and about Seoul’s concerns that those weapons would ultimately end up in Ukraine.
“We will review precedents and instances involving other countries and come up with our response accordingly,” a South Korean presidential official said Sunday about the revelations, according to the country’s Yonhap News Agency.
South Korea has a policy against providing weapons to nations involved in active conflict.
The revelations could dampen spirits for South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s much-anticipated trip to Washington this month for a state dinner with Mr. Biden and a celebration of the 70th anniversary of the U.S.-South Korean alliance. Mr. Yoon is facing pressure from opposition parties to demand an apology from Washington for apparently eavesdropping on internal South Korean government deliberations.
Mr. Yoon and his government “should demand precise information regarding the leaked documents and the reports and reveal that to the public,” Park Hong-keun, floor leader of the opposition Democratic Party of Korea, told reporters, according to The Korea Times.
In Turkey, a NATO ally, the documents raise questions about whether the Russian mercenary outfit the Wagner Group thinks it can replenish its weapons stockpiles with Turkish equipment. One of the leaked classified documents shows that Wagner officials met with “Turkish contacts” in February to procure weapons and other equipment, The New York Times reported. The documents do not specify whether those efforts were successful, The Times said.
The documents reveal some information that could be valuable to Russia in Ukraine. The papers reportedly detail the Ukrainian military’s “expenditure rate” of U.S.-supplied artillery systems. Such information would give Russian forces insight into how quickly the Ukrainian military is burning through its resources.
Ukrainian officials said they think the documents were obtained and then altered in part by Russia or pro-Russian actors, though it appears much more likely that the original leak came from inside the U.S., given the breadth of material included.
Comments are closed.
