In the Aftermath of Leak of Secret Documents, United States Review Intelligence Information Sharing

Pentagon. (Wikimedia Commons/mariordo59)

JAKARTA - The United States' national security agencies are rushing to review the way they share the government's most sensitive secrets, as well as dealing with the diplomatic fallout from the leak of dozens of classified documents, three US officials said.

Investigators are also working to determine which person or group may have the ability and motivation to release the intelligence reports, one of the officials said.

This information leak could be the US Government's most damaging information leak, since the publication of thousands of documents on WikiLeaks in 2013. Some of the most sensitive information is allegedly related to the capabilities and deficiencies of the Ukrainian military.

A US official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the Pentagon has been reviewing how widely some intelligence information is shared internally, ensuring that people who don't need it no longer have access to it.

The official said this is occasionally done within the Pentagon and the intelligence community, but the leaks have prompted another look at some of the distribution lists.

The Pentagon continues to examine procedures governing how widely some of the United States' most sensitive secrets are shared, the official added.

"There are steps to take a closer look at how this type of information is distributed and to whom," Pentagon spokesman Chris Meagher told reporters.

Illustration. (Piaxabay/TayebMEZAHDIA)

Meagher further said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was first briefed on the leak on April 6 and on April 7 he began gathering senior leaders daily to discuss the leak.

He added that the documents appeared to be in the same format used to provide updates to senior leaders, but some of the images appeared to have been altered.

Some of the documents, other officials said, are likely to be available to thousands of people with security clearances from the US Government and its allies, although they are highly sensitive, because the information directly affects those countries.

Meanwhile, the first official said, the number of people who had access to the documents underscores the sensitive information, which may have been shared widely with personnel who may not need the level of detail contained in the documents.

"The Pentagon needs to limit uncontrolled access to some of its most sensitive intelligence when it has no reasonable justification to have it," the official said.

The two officials said further that, while the leaks are very concerning, many of them only provide snapshots of the time in February and March - when they are given dates - but do not appear to reveal anything about the upcoming operation.

While this leak appears to be the most serious leak of classified information in recent years, officials say it has so far fallen short of the scale and scope of the 700.000 documents, videos and diplomatic cables that appeared on the WikiLeaks website in 2013.

In this regard, White House spokesman John Kirby said Monday, US President Joe Biden was briefed on the leak last week.

"We don't know who is responsible for this. And we don't know if they have more they would like to post... does that concern us? You are absolutely right," Kirby told reporters.

Since the current leak first came to light in March, investigators have pursued theories ranging from someone simply sharing documents to show off the work they were doing, to black spots within the US military or intelligence community, the first official added.

Separately, Daniel Hoffman, a former senior undercover CIA officer said, given the past activities of Moscow's intelligence services, it was "very likely" that Russian agents uploaded documents relating to Ukraine as part of a Russian disinformation operation.

He said such operations are "classic" practice of Russian spy agencies to leak authentic documents in which they insert false information.

The target, he said, was allegedly to drive distance between Ukraine and the United States, Kyiv's biggest provider of military support.

While some national security experts and US officials have said they suspect the whistleblowers were American, given the breadth of topics covered in the documents, they have not ruled out pro-Russian actors. More theories could develop as the investigation progresses, they said.

Separately, the Kremlin and the Russian Embassy did not respond to requests for comment on whether they were involved in the leaks.