FBI zeroing in on where leaked US intel documents were printed
The Federal Bureau of Investigation seal is seen at FBI headquarters in Washington
By Evan Perez, Katie Bo Lillis and Sean Lyngaas, CNN
(CNN) — The FBI is zeroing in on a US government office where it believes the leaked US intelligence documents on Israel’s preparations for a possible attack on Iran were printed, a US official and another source familiar with the matter told CNN.
FBI investigators working with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service in recent days have narrowed the focus of the investigation to concentrate on locations where the documents could have been printed before they were leaked last Friday. In the wake of classified document leaks in recent years, the federal government has increased its tracking of when employees access and print classified documents.
Both Israel-related documents that were published on social media last week were widely accessible intelligence products, according to two sources familiar with US intelligence. But at least one appears to be scanned from an officially printed briefing book. Investigators have worked to pinpoint where the documents were printed and who had access to them. The pool of people who printed these pages would be relatively small; sources have said — a key jumping-off point for investigators.
US officials have said it wasn’t what the documents described that is worrying so much as the fact that they leaked at all; the breach has simmered in the background of national security circles in Washington throughout the week.
The top Democrat and Republican on the Senate intelligence committee on Thursday urged FBI Director Christopher Wray to “act swiftly in the investigation … and take immediate action to hold each individual involved fully accountable.”
“If any individual in the U.S. Government trusted with holding America’s most sensitive secrets is found to be involved, those individuals must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Sens. Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat, and Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, wrote in a letter to Wray obtained by CNN.
The senators requested an update from the FBI on its investigation within 15 days and that the appropriate congressional committees be notified “immediately” if the intelligence community makes a criminal referral to the Justice Department regarding the leak.
The nature of the leaked documents indicates they were widely available to people with top-secret security clearance across the intelligence community, Department of Defense, other parts of the US government, and the country’s closest allies, Warner and Rubio wrote.
The documents, dated October 15 and 16, began circulating online Friday after being posted on Telegram by an account called “Middle East Spectator.” They are marked top secret and have markings indicating they are meant to be seen only by the US and its “Five Eyes” allies — Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
One of the documents, which says it was compiled by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, says the plans involve Israel moving munitions around.
Another NGA document that includes intelligence drawn from the National Security Agency outlines Israeli air force exercises involving air-to-surface missiles, also believed to be in preparation for a strike on Iran. CNN is not quoting directly from or showing the documents.
Although it’s quietly accepted that the US spies even on its allies, to have American surveillance of Israel leaked publicly risks straining relations at a moment when the US is desperately trying to bring to a close the series of interconnected conflicts in which Israel is now embroiled.
A major leak of US intelligence last year also strained the US’ relationships with allies and partners, including South Korea and Ukraine, after then 21-year-old Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira posted highly classified information on the social media platform Discord.
In that instance, the FBI was able to move quickly to identify Teixeira, who had left behind an electronic trail that helped investigators quickly narrow their lens. Texeira is now serving a 16-year sentence for the leak, and the Pentagon has since said that it has narrowed the number of people with access to certain documents.
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