US investigates leak of classified documents on Israel’s planned strike on Iran: report

The United States is investigating the unauthorized release of classified documents detailing Israel’s planned attack on Iran, the Associated Press reported.

The documents, attributed to the US Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency, note that Israel was still moving military assets to carry out a military strike in response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack on 1 october. Eyes”, which are the United States, Great Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

The documents, classified top secret, were posted on the messaging app Telegram last week and first reported by CNN and Axios. The AP first reported the U.S. investigation into the unauthorized release on Sunday, citing three U.S. officials. The AP said a fourth U.S. official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, indicated the documents appeared legitimate.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., also confirmed the investigation during an appearance on CNN.

“The leak is very concerning. Serious allegations have been made, an investigation is underway and I will have a briefing on it in a few hours,” Johnson said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “There’s a classified briefing, and then another. But we’re following it closely.”

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Aerial view of the Pentagon on March 31, 2024. (Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images)

The investigation is also examining how the documents were obtained — including whether it was an intentional leak by a member of the U.S. intelligence community or through another method, such as hacking — and whether other information from the intelligence has been compromised, one of the officials told the AP, adding that officials are working to determine who had access to the documents before they were released.

The documents first appeared online Friday via a Telegram channel, claiming they were leaked by someone in the U.S. intelligence community and then later by the U.S. Department of Defense. The information appears to be collected entirely through analysis of satellite images.

President Biden speaks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House, July 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, file)

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The AP reported that one of the two documents resembled the style of other U.S. National Geospatial Intelligence Agency documents leaked by Jack Teixeira, an Air National Guard member who pleaded guilty in March to leaking highly classified military documents about Russia’s war against Ukraine and other national security secrets.