On Tuesday, senior Biden administration officials held a press conference attempting to quell anger among U.S. allies after documents leaked online allegedly containing top secret U.S. intelligence.
Dozens of documents appeared online several weeks ago allegedly showing U.S. intelligence on the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the governments of several close U.S. allies. The Pentagon has not yet confirmed or denied the authenticity of the documents, but it has partnered with the Justice Department to launch an investigation. The apparent leaks have sparked backlash from U.S. allies discussed in the documents.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin addressed the documents for the first time during a press conference on Tuesday, saying that they had been in contact with officials from other countries to “reassure them.”
“We have engaged with allies and partners at high levels over the past days, including to reassure them about our own commitment to safeguarding intelligence and, of course, our commitment to our security partnerships,” Blinken said.
Austin said they have not yet been uncovered when the leak occurred or the extent of the leak.
“The documents that we are aware of are dated the 28th of February, 1st of March. I don’t know if there are other documents that are, that have been online before. These are things that we will find out as we continue to investigate,” he said. “We will continue to investigate and try to determine the full scope of the activity.”
The intelligence contained in the documents included battlefield assessments on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, including projections estimating when Ukraine’s air defenses might become depleted.
There was also intelligence purporting to describe South Korea’s internal debates on whether to supply artillery shells that could end up in Ukraine.