Although Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered a system-wide review of “intelligence access, accountability and control procedures” in wake of the leak of more than 100 pages of classified documents, the House Intelligence and Armed Services Committees are also investigating the leak and demanding the Pentagon provide answers about how it was able to occur.
According to a letter obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner and House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers wrote to Austin Tuesday listing their concerns and demanding information. The two wrote:
“The world has watched as classified national security secrets leaked widely and precipitously across the internet. The unauthorized disclosures appear extensive. The period over which they occurred unnoticed by government authorities is lengthy.”
According to Fox News Digital:
The leaked documents mainly concern Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but also include intelligence on China, the Middle East, Israel’s spy agency Mossad and world leaders. The Department of Defense has said the documents include “sensitive and highly-classified material.”
“Americans and our allies are asking how such a serious leak was able to occur with such ease and breadth,” they added, acknowledging that there is currently an ongoing law enforcement information into the matter.
As we reported Tuesday, in addition to Austin’s system-wide review, top officials from the Air Force testified before the Senate that an investigation into what happened within the Air Force’s 102nd Intelligence Wing is ongoing.
[Air Force Secretary Frank] Kendall told Congress that he has directed the Air Force Inspector General to look at “anything associated with this leak that could have gone wrong” at the 102nd Intelligence Wing.
Pending further review, “The 102nd Intelligence Wing is not currently performing its assigned intelligence mission. The mission has been temporarily reassigned to other organizations within the Air Force,” the service said in a statement to The Associated Press.
In addition, the Air Force is conducting a service-wide review of how each command handles classified information, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. C.Q. Brown told members of [the Senate] subcommittee.
That’s not enough, say Turner and Rogers:
But Turner and Rogers stressed that it is “imperative” that their committees, which are responsible for oversight, get “immediate access to all relevant and pertinent information necessary to inform the Committees’ determination of whether this incident might be corrected or prevented in the future through legislation or other policy-related adjustments.
“We must ensure national security is not further endangered or harmed by similar crimes happening in the future,” they wrote.
The letter demands that Austin turn over “all documents and records associated with the authority to access classified information, and the level and extent of access by Teixeira, along with any documents reflecting ‘procedures and protections in place at the suspect’s employment base,’ which was Otis National Guard Base in Massachusetts, for protecting classified information,” according to Fox News Digital, and that the committees be provided “all records associated with the Department of Defense’s review of security procedures at Otis National Guard Base and others, and any Pentagon analysis concerning the ‘extent and scope’ of the classified leak, and whether here are any other documents that “may still be at risk of disclosure.”
