The United States is investigating an unauthorized release of classified documents assessing Israel’s plans to attack Iran, a U.S. defense official confirmed to CBS News.
The documents are attributed to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency, and note that Israel was still moving military assets to carry out a military strike in response to Iran’s blistering ballistic missile attack October 1st. They were shared within the “Five Eyes”, namely the United States, Great Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.
The documents, classified top secret, were posted on the messaging app Telegram and first reported Saturday by CNN and Axios.
President of the House Mike Johnsonspeaking on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, confirmed that an investigation was underway.
“There is a classified briefing… we are following it closely,” he said, without providing additional details about the briefing.
The White House said it was not commenting on the alleged leak, despite Johnson’s confirmation of an investigation, and directed CBS News’ questions to the Justice Department. A DOJ spokesperson declined to comment Sunday.
Spokespeople for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the FBI declined to comment. A U.S. official told the Associated Press that the documents appeared legitimate.
The investigation is also examining how the documents were obtained – including whether it was an intentional leak by a member of the US intelligence community or whether they were obtained through another method, such as hacking – and whether other intelligence information was compromised, a U.S. official told the AP. As part of that investigation, officials are working to determine who had access to the documents before they were released, the official said.
In a statement, the Pentagon said it was aware of the reports about the documents but had no further comment.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the leak of the two documents.
The documents first appeared online Friday through a channel called “Middle East Spectator” on Telegram, claiming they were leaked by someone in the U.S. intelligence community, then later the U.S. Department of Defense . The information appears to be collected entirely through analysis of satellite images.
One of the two documents resembled the style of other National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency documents leaked by Jack Teixeira, an Air National Guard member who pleaded guilty in March to the leak of highly classified military documents on Russia’s war against Ukraine and other national security secrets.
The Telegram channel involved in the leak claims to be based in Tehran, the Iranian capital. He has previously posted memes featuring Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as materials supporting Tehran’s self-proclaimed “Axis of Resistance,” which includes Middle Eastern militant groups armed by the Republic Islamic.
The United States urged Israel to take advantage of the elimination of Yahya Sinwar, leader of Hamas and press for a ceasefire in Gaza, and also urgently warned Israel against further expansion of military operations in northern Lebanon, or risk a wider regional war. However, Israeli leaders have repeatedly emphasized that they will not let the Iranian missile attack go unanswered.
Charlie D’Agata and Kathryn Watson contributed to this report.
