National Review’s Jim Geraghty had a good account of the intelligence breach that has come to light in the past few days. Geraghty’s Morning Jolt yesterday was headlined “The Biggest Exposure of Classified Secrets Since Edward Snowden.” Geraghty does a good job of tracing the rollout of the leaks online since early this year. Today’s Politico Playbook follows up with “Anatomy of a megaleak.” Reuters has a “factbox” summary here.
As I understand it, the leaks have been rolling out online since early this year [update: i.e., since early March]. You’d think the Biden administration might be prepared to deal with the fallout at this point. They are flustered and flummoxed.
The Biden administration has instructed the press to limit its reporting on the substance of the documents. This is from the Playbook account linked above:
Lara Seligman has a must-read on how Pentagon officials are reeling at “both the sensitivity and sheer amount of information exposed,” particularly the release of battle planning documents. “I’m sick to my stomach,” said one official, while another called it “a massive betrayal.”
“Experts said the disclosure could be even more damaging than the leak by EDWARD SNOWDEN 10 years ago, particularly because the information is so recent,” Lara writes.
Notably, administration officials are warning media organizations to not publicize the content of the leaked documents. “It has no business, if you don’t mind me saying, on the pages of — front pages of newspapers or on television,” NSC spokesperson JOHN KIRBY told reporters from the White House podium yesterday.
The leaked documents bear on U.S. intelligence on the Ukraine war, the work of Russian operatives and Israel’s Mossad, South Korean and Egyptian plans, and so on. As Drudge used to say, impacting…
UPDATE: Jim Geraghty has more here this morning. He concludes this installment: “The administration is not playing it straight with the American public when it comes to Ukraine. An inability to see the situation clearly and communicate the situation without any sugarcoating is a formula for long-term problems.”
MORE: Caroline Glick takes up the Mossad angle here.
AND THIS: From Politico: “Congress demands answers on classified document leak.”