Plugging The Leak
DOJ investigating possible leak of Ukrainian aid documents
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is investigating an apparent leak of classified war documents relating to plans by the United States and NATO to support Ukraine's fight against Russia, Pentagon officials said Friday.
The documents were reportedly leaked from the Department of Defense (DOD) in recent weeks, and were posted on numerous social media sites. The files reportedly "contain classified information on topics ranging from the mercenary Wagner Group's operations in Africa and Israel's pathways to providing lethal aid to Ukraine, to intelligence about the United Arab Emirates' ties to Russia and South Korean concerns about providing ammunition to the U.S. for use in Ukraine," according to CNN.
The latest batch of documents, discovered Friday, were printed-out photos that contained top-secret markings, CNN added. In addition, The New York Times reported that the documents appeared to have been at least slightly modified to overstate estimates of both Ukrainian and Russian casualties from the war, and also revealed previously classified information.
For instance, the documents mentioned Ukraine's expenditure rate of American-supplied rocket systems, the Times reported, a figure that has not been publicly released.
The DOJ told CNN that it had "been in communication with the Department of Defense related to this matter and have begun an investigation," but would not comment further. In a separate statement to The Hill, though, Sabrina Singh, the deputy press secretary at the Pentagon, said the DOD was "actively reviewing the matter, and has made a formal referral to the Department of Justice for investigation."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reportedly addressed the leaks during a meeting with his senior staff on Friday. This meeting, among other things, "focused on measures to prevent the leakage of information regarding the plans of the defense forces of Ukraine," Zelensky's office said in a press release.