US Justice Dept opens probe into secret US documents leak

US Justice Dept opens probe into secret US documents leak
by AFP Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) April 9, 2023

The US Department of Justice on Saturday said it has begun an investigation into a trove of leaked US documents, many related to Ukraine, that have spread to the internet.

The breach appears to include assessments and secret intelligence reports that touch not only on Ukraine and Russia but also highly sensitive analyses of US allies.

"We have been in communication with the Department of Defense related to this matter and have begun an investigation," a Justice Department spokesperson told AFP.

A steady drip of dozens of leaked documents and slides have made their way onto Twitter, Telegram, Discord and other social media and chat sites in recent days, and new documents continue to surface.

The Pentagon said Friday it was "actively reviewing the matter" and that it had formally referred the apparent breach to the Justice Department.

US officials told the Washington Post that some documents appeared to be manipulated but many were consistent with CIA World Intelligence Review reports that are shared at high levels within the White House, Pentagon and State Department.

Defense analysts say any breach of internal classified US documents would be both damaging and potentially embarrassing.

In addition, the leak would prove valuable to Moscow by showing how deep US intelligence has penetrated parts of the Russian military apparatus, US media said.

Other documents include apparent information about internal debate within the governments of US allies.

Among the documents, for example, were discussions about South Korea's debate on whether to provide the United States artillery shells for use in Ukraine, The New York Times said.

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The Pentagon said it is assessing the reported security breach.

"We are aware of the reports of social media posts, and the Department is reviewing the matter," Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said.

The documents were spread on Twitter and Telegram, and reportedly contain charts and details about weapons deliveries, battalion strengths and other sensitive information, the Times said.

Information in the documents is at least five weeks old, with the most recent dated March 1, the report said.

One of the documents summarized the training schedules of 12 Ukraine combat brigades, and said nine of them were being trained by US and NATO forces, and needed 250 tanks and more than 350 mechanized vehicles, the newspaper said.

The documents -- at least one of which carried a "top secret" label -- were circulated on pro-Russian government channels, it said.

Information in the documents also details expenditure rates for munitions under Ukraine military control, including for the HIMARS rocket systems, the US-made artillery rocket systems that have proven highly effective against Russian forces, it added.

The report quoted military analysts who warned that some documents appear to have been altered in a disinformation campaign by Russia, in one document inflating Ukrainian troop deaths and minimizing Russian battlefield losses.