President Trump on Thursday alleged that members of the Democratic Party in Congress were behind the leak of a classified Pentagon assessment regarding the effectiveness of recent U.S. airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear sites.
“The Democrats are the ones who leaked the information on the PERFECT FLIGHT to the Nuclear Sites in Iran. They should be prosecuted!” Trump posted on Truth Social.
So far, there is no confirmation that Trump possesses direct evidence identifying who leaked the Defense Intelligence Agency’s early report, which was released after the strikes and suggested Iran’s nuclear program might only have suffered a temporary delay.
Just prior to Trump’s social media remarks, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also floated the idea that congressional Democrats could be responsible. However, like Trump, she offered no definitive proof and said the investigation remained open.
“It could have been someone in the intelligence community, or it could have been someone on Capitol Hill who had access to this document. The FBI is searching for that person,” Leavitt told reporters.
“We have seen this playbook run before, where you have people in the intelligence community — or perhaps on Capitol Hill, we don’t know — but I believe the FBI is investigating to find out who that leaker was, because it’s illegal and they should be held accountable.”
Democratic lawmakers, meanwhile, have expressed frustration over what they consider a lack of transparency surrounding Trump’s bold military operation that struck nuclear sites in Fordow, Isfahan, and Natanz—an action without historical precedent.
The initial coverage of the leaked Defense Intelligence Agency memo came Tuesday through CNN’s Natasha Bertrand. Within hours, outlets including the New York Times, ABC, CNN, the Washington Post, and the Associated Press had corroborated and published similar reports.
The speed and breadth of the media coverage indicate that someone accustomed to interfacing with journalists may have confirmed the leaked material with multiple outlets.
Leavitt noted on Thursday that access to the DIA report was highly restricted prior to its public release, and she suggested the intent behind the leak was to minimize the perceived success of the U.S. airstrikes, which reportedly led to an immediate halt in hostilities between Iran and Israel and caused extensive damage to Iran’s strategic sites, according to both American and global intelligence assessments.
{Matzav.com}