The recent leak of more than 100 pages of classified U.S. intelligence documents has baffled officials
hen it comes to leaks of classified government documents, the way they are disseminated is often as telling as the actual information they contain. In 2010, U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning handed over thousands of military and diplomatic documents to WikiLeaks, a website with a reputation for publishing sensitive materials. Three years later, Edward Snowden leaked thousands of classified documents he had gathered as a National Security Agency contractor to select publications.
Those aren’t the only odd aspects of the documents’ emergence. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was first briefed on the leaks on April 6, the Pentagon said Monday, the same day their existence was first reported by the New Yorkand a day after screenshots of the documents began circulating on mainstream social platforms.
Some of the documents were marked “SECRET/NOFORN,” meaning it is not meant to be shared with foreign countriesOthers, which appeared to be briefing documents, had the seal of the Joint Chiefs’ intelligence arm. But the existence of the leaks and their bizarre appearance could be more damaging than what they actually divulge, according to analysts and former U.S. officials.
The unusual format has also provided an opening to spread further disinformation and confusion. At least one version of the documents, posted on a pro-Russian Telegram, appears to have been crudely altered to inflate the U.S. estimates of Ukrainian casualties. One document in the cache appeared to show that Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence service, encouraged its staff to support anti-government protests against a proposed judiciary overhaul.
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