US investigates confidential document leaks on Israel's planned attack on Iran: report

The United States is investigating the unauthorized release of classified documents detailing Israel's planned attack on Iran, The Associated Press reported.

The documents, attributed to the US Geospatial Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency, said Israel was still moving military assets into place to carry out a military strike in response to Iran's devastating missile attack on October 1. They could be divided within the “Five Eyes”, which are the USA, Great Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

The classified documents were published last week on the messaging app Telegram and were first reported by CNN and Axios. The AP first reported Sunday on the U.S. investigation into the unauthorized release, citing three U.S. officials. The AP said a fourth U.S. official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, suggested the documents appeared legitimate.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., also confirmed the investigation in an appearance on CNN.

“The leak is very worrying. There are some serious allegations being made, an investigation is underway and I will be briefed on it in a few hours,” Johnson said on CNN's “State of the Union” on Sunday. “There is a secret briefing and then another. But we are following it closely.”

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Aerial view of the Pentagon on March 31, 2024. (Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images)

The investigation is also examining how the documents were obtained – including whether there was an intentional leak by a member of the U.S. intelligence community or through another method, such as a hacking attack, and whether other intelligence information was compromised, one of the people said Officials AP adds that officials are working to find out who had access to the documents before they were released.

The documents first appeared online Friday through a channel on Telegram, claiming they were leaked by someone in the U.S. intelligence community and later the U.S. Department of Defense. The information appeared to be collected entirely using satellite image analysis.

President Biden speaks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House, July 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

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The AP reported that one of the two documents was similar in style to other U.S. National Geospatial Intelligence Agency material leaked by Jack Teixeira, an Air National Guardsman pleaded guilty in March to leaking top-secret military documents about Russia's war against Ukraine and other national security secrets.