US officials searching for source of intelligence leak suspect an American is responsible
- Pentagon officials say the breadth of topics addressed in the documents that appeared online on Friday suggest they were leaked by an American rather than an ally
- ‘The focus now is on this being a US leak, as many of the documents were only in US hands,’ said Michael Mulroy, a former senior Pentagon official
“The focus now is on this being a US leak, as many of the documents were only in US hands,” Michael Mulroy, a former senior Pentagon official, told Reuters in an interview.
The Russian embassy in Washington and the Kremlin did not respond to requests for comment.
New classified US military documents on Ukraine, China appear online
Two US officials told Reuters on Sunday that they have not ruled out that the documents may have been doctored to mislead investigators as to their origin or to disseminate false information that may harm US security interests.
One of the documents, dated February 23 and marked “Secret”, outlines in detail how Ukraine’s S-300 air defence systems would be depleted by May 2 at the current usage rate.
Another document, marked “Top Secret” and from a CIA Intel update from March 1, says the Mossad intelligence agency was encouraging protests against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans to tighten controls on the Supreme Court.
In a statement on Sunday, Netanyahu’s office described the assertion as “mendacious and without any foundation whatsoever.”
The Pentagon has not addressed the contents of any specific documents, including the apparent surveillance of allies.
Two US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that while there was concern about the leak at the Pentagon and intelligence agencies, the documents showed a snapshot in time from more than a month ago, rather than more recent assessments.
The two officials said the military and intelligence agencies were looking at their processes for how widely some the intelligence is shared internally.
The White House referred questions to the Pentagon.
The Pentagon on Sunday reiterated it was reviewing the matter and had made a formal referral to the Department of Justice asking it to investigate the incident.
The US Justice Department said on Friday it was in touch with the Defence Department and began an investigation into the leak. It declined further comment.
Officials are looking at what motivations a US official or a group of officials would have in leaking such sensitive information, said one of the officials who spoke to Reuters.
The official said investigators were looking at four or five theories, from a disgruntled employee to an insider threat who actively wanted to undermine US national security interests.