Pentagon chief of staff Joe Kasper indicated that the investigation could include polygraphs and referrals for criminal prosecution.
The Department of Defense (DOD) has launched a new effort to track down the sources of unauthorized disclosures of sensitive and classified information, becoming the second executive branch department to take steps this week to plug information leaks.
“Recent unauthorized disclosures of national security information involving sensitive communications with principals within the Office of the Secretary of Defense demand immediate and thorough investigation,” Pentagon chief of staff Joe Kasper announced in a memo shared across the DOD on March 21.
In his memo, Kasper called on the director for defense intelligence covering counterintelligence, law enforcement, and security matters to support the Office of the Secretary of Defense in the search for leakers.
The Pentagon chief of staff didn’t elaborate on the types of information released in the recent leaks that prompted this investigative step, but he said investigators will work to compile a comprehensive list of leaks.
“This investigation will commence immediately and culminate in a report to the Secretary of Defense,” he wrote. “The report will include a complete record of unauthorized disclosures within the Department of Defense and recommendations to improve such efforts.”
Kasper indicated that the investigators may make use of a polygraph while conducting interviews to find the sources of unauthorized disclosures. He said that the Pentagon would refer information identifying “a party responsible for an unauthorized disclosure” to law enforcement agencies for criminal investigation.
The announcement of a DOD effort to plug information leaks was made shortly after the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a similar investigation into leaks of classified documents.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on March 21 announced that the DOJ was specifically looking into what he called a “selective leak of inaccurate, but nevertheless classified” intelligence about Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan transnational gang that the State Department designated as a foreign terrorist organization in February.
On March 15, President Donald Trump invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to speed along deportation operations targeting suspected Tren de Aragua members. A rarely used wartime law, the Alien Enemies Act permits the president to order the removal of foreign nationals from a nation or government that is in a declared war with the United States, or that has engaged in an invasion or predatory incursion against the United States.
In his proclamation invoking the Alien Enemies Act against Tren de Aragua, Trump asserted that there exists a nexus of coordination between the Venezuelan government and the gang.
This week, The New York Times reported that a leaked U.S. intelligence document from February assessed with “moderate confidence” that Tren de Aragua is not coordinating its actions or taking its direction from the Venezuelan government.
Blanche said the leak to The New York Times was a politically motivated act by members of the “Deep State” intent on undermining Trump’s efforts.
“The Alien Enemies Proclamation is supported by fact, law, and common sense, which we will establish in court and then expel the TDA [Tren de Aragua] terrorists from this country,” he said.
Last week, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced that her office had begun its own effort to find intelligence community employees who had leaked information or who passed on obscene and sexually explicit messages on the top secret intelligence community chat channel Intelink.
“Politically motivated leaks undermine our national security and the trust of the American people and will not be tolerated. Unfortunately, such leaks have become commonplace with no investigation or accountability. That ends now,” Gabbard said in a March 14 statement.
Tom Ozimek contributed to this article.