Friday, July 10, 2020

Pentagon opens investigation into media leaks amid Russian bounty reports

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/09/pentagon-investigation-media-leaks-russia-bounty-355360


Defense Secretary Mark Esper told lawmakers on Thursday he has launched an investigation into leaks across the Pentagon, in response to a series of "bad" disclosures of sensitive information to the news media over the past year and amid reports that Russians paid militants in Afghanistan to kill U.S. troops.
"We are aggressively pursuing leaks within the Defense Department," Esper told the House Armed Services Committee during a hearing about the military's role in civil law enforcement, adding that leaks are a problem across the U.S. government. "It's bad and it's unlawful and it needs to stop."
 In response to additional questioning later, Esper acknowledged that he was in fact briefed on intelligence reports that Russia made "payments" to militants to kill American troops in Afghanistan.
Esper added that the intelligence reports on the bounty program was not produced by the Defense Department, and defense intelligence agencies have been unable to corroborate them.

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