The US Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation into the publication of classified documents related to the Ukraine conflict, as the White House on Monday lectured journalists not to report on their content.
The Department of Defense has sent over a criminal referral to the DOJ to trigger the probe, according to Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh. Meanwhile, an internal investigation has been launched to \u201creview and assess the validity\u201d of the documents, which \u201cappear to contain sensitive and highly classified material.\u201d
Photographs of scanned briefing slides were first posted on a messaging platform called Discord in January, but went unnoticed until last week. Since then, more documents have appeared on Twitter and Telegram as well, with the latest batch emerging on Friday.
According to Financial Times, their release has \u201csown chaos and paranoia among Washington\u2019s national security apparatus ahead of a critical moment\u201d in the Ukraine conflict, just as Kiev is about to launch a highly anticipated \u201ccounter-offensive.\u201d
Pentagon spokesman Chris Meagher told reporters on Monday that he could not confirm the documents\u2019 authenticity, but that they \u201cappear 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,\u201d while insisting that some \u201cappear to have been altered.\u201d
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters at the White House that he couldn\u2019t confirm the validity of the documents, but that they shouldn\u2019t report on them.
\u201cThis is information that has no business in the public domain,\u201d Kirby said. \u201cIt has no business, if you don\u2019t mind me saying, on the front pages of newspapers or on television. It is not intended for public consumption and it should not be out there.\u201d
That has not stopped the US media from quoting anonymous sources from inside the Pentagon to describe the hunt for the leaker and the crackdown on the flow of intelligence inside the US military. Over the weekend, the Washington Post reported \u201ca high level of panic\u201d at the Pentagon, while Reuters quoted speculation about the possible source, ranging from a disgruntled employee to an \u201cinsider threat.\u201d
Both Ukraine and Russia have downplayed the documents\u2019 significance, however. The Kremlin said Moscow had long known about Washington\u2019s direct involvement in the conflict, while military analysts speculated the leaks might be US disinformation. Advisers to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky also initially claimed the documents were disinformation, blaming Russia. By Monday, however, Kiev was already changing some of its military plans in response, according to CNN \u2013 while insisting the actual date of the \u201ccounteroffensive\u201d was irrelevant because it was already underway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n