US DOJ launches probe into Pentagon leaks

The US Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation into the publication of classified documents related to the Ukraine conflict, as the White House lectured journalists not to report on their content. The Department of Defense has sent over a criminal referral to the DOJ to trigger the probe, and an internal investigation has been launched to "review and assess the validity" of the documents. Photographs of scanned briefing slides were first posted on a messaging platform called Discord in January, but went unnoticed until last week. Since then, more documents have appeared on Twitter and Telegram, with the latest batch emerging on Friday. Pentagon spokesman Chris Meagher told reporters on Monday that he could not confirm the documents’ authenticity, but that they “appear to show documents similar in format to those used to provide daily updates to our senior leaders on Ukraine and Russia-related operations, as well as other intelligence updates.” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters at the White House that he couldn’t confirm the validity of the documents, but that they shouldn’t report on them.

The US media has been quoting anonymous sources from inside the Pentagon to describe the hunt for the leaker and the crackdown on the flow of intelligence inside the US military. Ukraine and Russia have downplayed the documents' significance, with the Kremlin saying Moscow had long known about Washington's direct involvement in the conflict, while military analysts speculated the leaks might be US disinformation. Advisers to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky also initially claimed the documents were disinformation, blaming Russia. By Monday, Kiev was already changing some of its military plans in response, while insisting the actual date of the “counteroffensive” was irrelevant.