Congress demands answers on classified document leak

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are demanding answers following the leak of highly-sensitive documents from the Pentagon that included information on Ukraine’s war against Russia.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Tuesday that he has requested classified briefings for members on the leak after Congress returns to Washington next week. Leaders of the House and Senate intelligence panels also said they’d been briefed on the leak, which represents the most significant breach of U.S. intelligence in a decade.

“We don’t know what else might be coming or what else they have access to,” House Intelligence Committee Chair Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) told CBS on Monday. “That’s why it’s so important to find the source and to close down this source.”

Turner, who recently returned from a visit to Kyiv, has said the leak could amount to espionage.

The leak, which surfaced on social media over the past week, has stunned the Defense Department and prompted an investigation by the Justice Department. The released information spanned a host of topics but included highly-sensitive documents related to the war in Ukraine.

The White House on Monday said President Joe Biden had been briefed on the leak but demurred on whether it remained an active threat. “We don’t know. We truly don’t,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said.

Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, called the leak “not remotely acceptable.” In a phone interview, he said he wants to learn as quickly as possible how the leak happened and whether it exposed any sources of U.S. intelligence collection.

“This leak is particularly concerning because it could have very real-time consequences,” he told POLITICO, referring to Ukrainians in their ongoing war with Russia.

Himes said the leak, which comes after the discovery of classified information at properties associated with Donald Trump, Joe Biden and Mike Pence, is indicative of broader problems with classified information handling. He predicted that there would be bipartisan interest revamping classified materials-handling practices.

“It’s clear that we’ve got a larger issue here,” the Connecticut Democrat said. “Clearly, we’ve got to do a better job. And so I think we’ll be very interested in the specifics of this case, but also how they inform a more secure system.”

Regardless of the ongoing status of the threat from the leaked documents, Congress will be actively engaged on the issue when it returns next week.

Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) was briefed Monday evening and vowed his panel would “continue to follow this situation closely,” while urging caution that Russia has a history of spreading disinformation through documents posted online.

The leaders of the House intelligence panel — Turner and Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) — said in a joint statement that they expect to be briefed as the investigation into the leak unfolds.

“Protecting classified information is critical to our national security, and the DOD and Intelligence Community must work quickly to prevent any spillage and identify the source of any leak,” the bipartisan duo said in a Monday statement.

The interest extends beyond the intelligence panels. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), chair of the House Armed Services Committee, and Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, both said they are also seeking answers about the leak.

“Chairman Reed remains focused on supporting and sustaining the international effort to aid Ukraine in its fight to repel Russia’s illegal invasion,” a committee spokesperson said Monday.