US takes Pentagon leaks 'very seriously': NSC Spox John Kirby

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
10 Apr 2023 21:58

Kirby made it clear that the US is fully committed to trace the source of the leak and will take adequate measures as details emerge.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby addresses reporters during the daily briefing at the White House on Monday, April 10, 2023 (AP)

White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said on Monday that the US considers the leak of highly classified Pentagon documents a very serious matter, and considers there is no reason for these documents to be out in the public.

"We're taking this very, very seriously. There is no excuse for these kinds of documents to be in the public domain," Kirby said during a press briefing.

He further made it clear that the US is fully committed to tracing the source of the leak and will take adequate measures as details emerge.

"We're going to get to the bottom of this. And then if there are actions that need to be taken, as we learn more about the extent of what happened here, we'll obviously take those," said Kirby.

"We need to let the Department of Justice do their job, investigate this," says NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications, John Kirby, on the most recent "potential leak" of classified documents.

"We're only a couple of days into this," Kirby adds. pic.twitter.com/KXs10Klgay
— CBS News (@CBSNews) April 10, 2023

Kirby noted that some of the documents on the Ukraine conflict appeared to have been altered from their original version.

"It does appear that at least in some cases, the information posted online had been altered from what we think would be the original source," Kirby said.

When asked if the leaked material had any effect on support for Ukraine, Kirby answered "No, we're going to continue to support Ukraine as the President said for as long as it takes."

Last week, The New York Times reported, citing officials familiar with the matter, that a new batch of classified US documents made up of more than 100 new files has been leaked, divulging information pertaining not only to Ukraine but also to China and the Middle East.

The Pentagon said on Sunday that the US is examining the implications of an apparent leak of a number of highly classified information on national security, AFP reported on Monday.

The leaked documents also have US officials scrambling to identify the leak's source, with some experts saying it could be an American rather than an ally, owing to the breadth of the topics addressed in the documents.

This is seen as one of the most serious security breaches since more than 700,000 documents, videos, and diplomatic cables appeared on the WikiLeaks website in 2013.

On Monday, CNN reported that Ukraine was forced to change some military plans following the leak of the documents that exposed some of the strategies laid down by the Ukrainian military.

Earlier today, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the Kremlin is currently examining the classified documents while pointing out that the tendency to blame Russia for all US misfortunes is a disease.

When asked to comment on allegations of Russia's involvement in the leak, he said "No, I cannot comment on this in any way, we all know that it is actually such a tendency to blame everything on Russia, always and everywhere, but this is such a common disease now, so there is nothing to comment on."