Leaks

Hosted by Charlie Sykes.

I’m grateful for James Freeman’s kind words about my recent essay in the Guardian warning about Deep State leaks, and relieved that he thinks I am “not nearly as far to the left as most Guardian editors.” We agree that there is a serious danger in the Deep State leaks of classified intelligence…

The man in charge of internal security of the nation's intelligence services says there is so much leaking of classified information right now that "we’re not dealing with it." Bill Evanina, the director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center made the admission in a recent…

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said Sunday that the Justice Department is not out to target and prosecute journalists, after mounting concern over how a newly announced crackdown on leaks could affect reporters.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has a stark message for the media and their government sources: Playtime is over at the Department of Justice.

Commentary editor John Podhoretz has a column in the New York Post on the wider implications—and brushed-over dangers—of the leaked information that felled former national security advisor Michael Flynn.

As journalistic bombshells go, CNN’s January 10 report on President Trump was explosive: "Classified documents presented last week to President Obama and President-elect Trump included allegations that Russian operatives claim to have compromising personal and financial information about Mr. Trump,…

This past week we got a master class in how to deploy opposition research in a presidential campaign. During the second debate, a question from CNN's Anderson Cooper led Donald Trump to assert that he "did not kiss women without consent or grope women without consent." At that point, the floodgates…

This past week we got a master class in how to deploy opposition research in a presidential campaign. During the second debate, a question from CNN’s Anderson Cooper led Donald Trump to assert that he "did not kiss women without consent or grope women without consent." At that point, the floodgates…

Off hours, The Scrapbook has been dealing, like many everyday Americans, with the sort of problem that admits of no governmental solution: namely, a leaky basement. But just because government has nothing to offer by way of solutions (at least not yet!) doesn’t mean that it’s ignoring what we’re up…

Back in 2012, I suggested that the Senate use Leon Panetta's confirmation hearing for CIA director to clear up one of Washington's more interesting media mysteries—who leaked Daniel Patrick Moynihan's authorship of controversial memo that used the phrase "benign neglect" in reference to the black…

Yesterday, the Washington Post had a lengthy report on how former CIA director Leon Panetta was sending out copies of his book nearly a month before it cleared the CIA's internal revue process to ensure that no sensitive national security information was being revealed. According to the Post,…

My review of former top CIA lawyer John Rizzo’s book Company Man appears in the current issue of this magazine. A friend in a high place who read the review pointed out to me that the book adds something significant to our understanding of the Valerie Plame, Scooter Libby, Richard Armitage, Judith…

Former Obama intelligence official Dennis Blair, an admiral, blamed leaks on the "trend" being set "at the top of this administration":

Bradley Manning pleaded guilty today to leaking classified material. "Army Pfc. Bradley Edward Manningpleaded guilty Thursday to 10 charges that he illegally acquired and transferred U.S. government secrets, agreeing to serve 20 years in prison for leaking classified material to WikiLeaks that…

In response to a report that classified information had been leaked to the makers of the Hollywood movie Zero Dark Thirty, Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal, Congressman Peter King, chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, says he's concerned.

In a letter to the White House, four members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence asked President Obama whether recent disclosures to the press of classified information on the Benghazi terrorist attacks were authorized by the Obama administration or illegal leaks subject to…

A memo released from the Republican Policy Committee in the U.S. Senate is suggesting that Barack Obama's White House is responsible for "yet another leak of sensitive intelligence information directed at bolstering the national security bona fides of the Obama Administration, as both Reuters and…

Patrick Caddell, writing at Breitbart.com, asks, "White House Leaks: What Does Axelrod Know, And How Does He Know It?"

Rep. Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, has released a statment urging the Obama White House to cooperate with authorities on the national security leaks investigation. 

Admiral William McRaven, commander of special operations, warned of the dangers of high-level national security leaks in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer: 

President Obama's top political adviser, David Axelrod, came under heavy fire this morning on MSNBC this morning about high-level national security allegedly coming from the White House: 

Mitt Romney will hit President Obama for high-level national security leaks coming from the White House, according to excerpts of the speech the Republican presidential candidate will deliver later today at the VFW in Reno, Nevada. Romney will call the leaks "contemptible" and a betrayal of "our…

Senator Dianne Feinstein, a top Democratic from California, accused the Obama White House of leaking national security information at a recent event in Washington, D.C. Here's video of Feinstein's accusation:

National Journal reports:

The House Intelligence Committee chair, Congressman Mike Rogers, unloaded on the Obama administration for what he calls "probably the most damaging" national security leaks in history, the National Journal reports. 

The recent congressional ire over the Obama administration's suspiciously convenient national security leaks reminded me of an unusual bit of political trivia: Defense Secretary -- and prior to that, CIA head -- Leon Panetta is the prime suspect in one of the most notorious political leaks of all…

A sizable group of Republican senators have introduced a resolution in the Senate calling for Attorney General Eric Holder to appoint an independent special counsel to investigate high-level national security leaks to the media.

A surrogate for President Obama's reelection campaign sheepishly admitted on CBS's Face the Nation that "We've had better weeks."

Yesterday evening, it was announced that Attorney General Eric Holder appointed two prosecutors to investigate alleged national security leaks to the media from the White House. But now two leading Senate Republicans are urging President Obama to appoint independent "outside special counsel" to…

President Obama at a press conference this morning insisted that high-level national security leaks are not coming from the White House. "The notion that my White House would purposefully release classified information is offensive," President Obama said. 

The story of the Stuxnet and Flame cyber exploits is so compelling that you almost don't care where it came from or if it represents a serious breach of national security. Almost. You can read David Sanger in the Times and Jonathan Last, here at THE WEEKLY STANDARD, and you crave more. Including…

Texas senator John Cornyn is targeting classified leaks being released by the Obama administration. "The leaks appear to have formed the basis of two New York Times reports about the White House’s role in classified national security efforts, one detailing the use of cyber warfare against Iran, and…

Senators Dan Coats, Richard Burr, and Marco Rubio urge the Obama administration to stop leaking sensitive intelligence information to the press: