US is taking classified documents leak very seriously, Defence Secretary says
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
(From second left) Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin answer questions at a Washington briefing on Tuesday.
PHOTO: AFP
Follow topic:
WASHINGTON - Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said the United States will not stop until it finds out out how a trove of classified documents on Ukraine, Israel and other nations appeared online, in his first public remarks about the embarrassing leak.
“We take this very seriously,” Mr Austin told reporters at a briefing on Tuesday.
“And we will continue to investigate, and turn over every rock, until we find the source of this and the extent of it.”
Mr Austin said he was first briefed on April 6 about what he called “reports of unauthorised disclosure of sensitive and classified material” compiled by the Defence Department.
In the days since, the Justice Department has opened an investigation and the US has sought to reassure allies about its ability to keep secrets safe.
Mr Austin had no answer when pressed on why the documents were on the Web for more than a month before US officials discovered them, repeating that the leak is still under investigation.
The secret documents, which appeared on social media sites in recent weeks, reveal information on a range of topics,
Their disclosure raised new questions about the government’s ability to keep its secrets from entering the public realm following a series of far more voluminous leaks by Chelsea Manning in 2010 and Edward Snowden in 2013.
“I can’t say much more while the Justice Department’s investigation is ongoing, but we take this very seriously, and we will continue to work closely with our outstanding allies and partners,” Mr Austin said, in a briefing on Tuesday alongside Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
“And nothing will ever stop us from keeping America secure.”
Mr Austin and Mr Blinken, speaking side by side with their Philippine counterparts after meetings on Tuesday, said they had both talked to their Ukrainian counterparts that same day and again sought to reassure allies that the US remained a reliable intelligence partner.
Mr Austin, asked about leaks involving the difficulties Ukraine would face in a much-anticipated spring offensive, said he remained confident in the Ukrainian leadership and its battle plans.
He said the US would continue providing capabilities to ensure success.
Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo, asked whether the leaks would jeopardise intelligence-sharing between Manila and Washington, said he did not think so.
“I really don’t want to jump to any conclusions at this stage – we have full confidence in the investigation that will be undertaken,” he said.
“But just let me say, we are confident of the strength of our relationship and of our growing partnership.”
Democratic Senator Mark Warner, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told MSNBC he had received a preliminary briefing on the leak but wanted to give the Pentagon and Justice Department time to uncover what happened.
He said a key question was finding out when the intelligence community discovered that the documents were gone and when they started to appear on the Internet, even if it was “not a site that’s followed that often”.
“I’m on this, we’re on it in a bipartisan way, we’re going to get answers,” Mr Warner said. BLOOMBERG
