The Department of Defense is working to understand the scope of the purported classified documents leak that was uncovered last week.
The documents, which first surfaced on social media platforms last month, included secret information on the war in Ukraine but also included information about Israel and South Korea and provided insights into the extent the United States spies on its allies and adversaries alike.
DOJ LAUNCHES CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION INTO APPARENT LEAKED 'HIGHLY CLASSIFIED' US INTELLIGENCE
"A Pentagon team continues to review and assess the veracity of the photograph documents that are circulating on social media sites and that appear in some cases to contain sensitive and highly classified material," Chris Meagher, assistant to the secretary of defense for public affairs, told reporters on Monday. "These photos appear to show documents in a similar format, those used to provide daily updates to our senior leaders on Ukraine and Russia-related operations as well as other intelligence updates."
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was initially briefed on the issue on April 6 and began convening senior leaders on a daily basis starting the next day.
Meagher declined to identify a specific person heading the investigation multiple times, though he described it as a "cross-department effort" that includes the public affairs office, legislative affairs team, the general counsel's office, joint staff, and others. The department has also taken steps to look into how information is distributed and to whom.
The department is still attempting to "look at the scope and scale of the distribution, the assessed impact, and our mitigation measures," he added, later declining to specify a ballpark of how many documents they believed were leaked or if they expected additional classified documents to be posted on various social media platforms.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
In some instances, the photos of the classified documents appear to be altered, though it's unclear by whom and why. In one example, a photo of a classified slide showing Russia and Ukraine's casualty counts appeared to significantly decrease the former's total while exaggerating the latter's. Another purported document revealed that a Russian fighter jet nearly shot down a British jet on Sept. 29, 2022, off the coast of Russian-occupied Crimea, per the Washington Post. Another intelligence report leaked, this one about Israel, claimed Mossad, the country's main intelligence agency, had been encouraging protests against the government.
The Pentagon also referred this matter to the Department of Justice, which has opened a criminal investigation. Department officials have also communicated with allies and partners in recent days to inform them of the leak.