Secretary of State Antony Blinken argued on Saturday that the recent leaks from the Pentagon have not deterred cooperation between the United States and its other country allies.
Blinken's statement came during a Q&A session at the end of a press conference he gave, in which he stated the U.S. has engaged with its allies in the wake of the leaks, and that "we have made clear our commitment to safeguarding intelligence and our commitment to our security partnerships."
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"What I’ve heard so far at least is an appreciation for the steps that we’re taking, and it’s not affected our cooperation," said Blinken. "I just haven’t seen that. I haven’t heard that. And of course, the investigation is taking its course. There’s now, as you know, a suspect in custody but importantly as well, I know, measures being taken to further safeguard information. But to date, based on the conversations I’ve had, I have not – not heard anything that would affect our cooperation with allies and partners."
Blinken's statement comes after Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old Air National Guardsman, was arrested by the FBI on Thursday. He was arraigned in a Boston federal courtroom on Friday and charged under the Espionage Act with unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information, as well as unauthorized removal of classified information and defense materials.
Teixeira is accused of releasing hundreds of classified documents in an invite-only chat on Discord, a messaging platform. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he was made aware of the leaked documents on April 6 and has convened military officials for daily updates since April 7.
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Former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East Mick Mulroy criticized Teixeira's alleged leak for threatening national security by undermining the country's collection of intelligence.
"It is bad enough that our adversaries know what we know, or at least in part," Mulroy told the Washington Examiner. "It is really bad if our adversaries know how we know it. That goes to our sources and methods. They will review what documents are out there and use that to launch their own counterintelligence operations."