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| DATE | 2023-04-09 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
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| SUBJECT | Subject: [Hangout - NYLXS] Counter to Intelligence - Keep using those
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U.S. Pushes to Assess Damage From Leak of Purported Files on War in Ukraine
Nancy A. Youssef, Yaroslav Trofimov and Sadie Gurman
8–10 minutes
Justice Department launches probe amid fears over classified documents’
impact on global security
Updated April 8, 2023 10:19 pm ET
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The U.S. pressed on Saturday to assess the damage of a widespread
intelligence breach, as the Pentagon and the Justice Department seek
answers to how dozens of images that purport to show highly classified
documents on the war in Ukraine and other international matters surfaced
online.
Determining the source of the leak and its implications has dominated
the attention of leadership at the Pentagon, defense officials said, as
a wide-ranging internal government probe gathered steam over a U.S.
holiday weekend.
While some of the documents are roughly two months old, their disclosure
could affect the conduct of the war in Ukraine because they purport to
spell out potential battlefield vulnerabilities and the composition of
parts of Ukraine’s forces, U.S. officials said. The documents also
appear to include intelligence on internal matters in a variety of
nations, including allies Israel, South Korea and the U.K. The leak is
likely to have an impact on U.S. national security worldwide, officials
said.
The Wall Street Journal wasn’t able to independently authenticate the
documents, but they contain enough detail to give them credibility.
Defense officials have said they believe some of the documents could be
authentic, though some also appear to have been altered.
Taken together, the document dump, initially made in a small forum on
the Discord messaging platform, is shaping up to be one of the most
damaging intelligence breaches in decades. The unauthorized disclosure
of highly sensitive information has alarmed not only top U.S. security
officials but also allies with whom the U.S. shares secret intelligence.
Some U.S. security partners are playing down the impact of the breach on
operations covered in the documents.
Andriy Chernyak, a spokesman for Ukrainian military intelligence,
described the leaked documents as an “operation by Russia’s special
services.”
“This will in no way affect our continued cooperation with allies,” he
said. Asked about the Ukrainian counteroffensive against Russian forces
expected in coming weeks, he said military operations will be carried
out according to plans set out by the military command.
Still, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday, after the
first reports of the breach emerged, that Kyiv has decided to adopt new
measures to prevent unauthorized disclosure of its military plans ahead
of the counteroffensive.
Some experts who have studied the documents are doubtful the breach is
part of a Russian disinformation campaign.
Aric Toler, head of research and training at the Bellingcat
investigative consortium, which has done several high-profile probes of
Russian intelligence operations, said Saturday that he had traced the
original source of the posting to a small group of users called Thug
Shaker Central on Discord. Hundreds of files were posted there in
January, February and March. Later, some of these documents were
reposted by users to a bigger group, uniting fans of the Minecraft game.
The original group has since been wiped clean, as was the much bigger
document trove.
“I really doubt this is some Russian op, so there’s a good chance only a
few internet weirdos saw the hundreds of documents,” said Eliot Higgins,
the founder of Bellingcat. “It’s really only something you’d find if you
were terminally online.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Justice Department launched
a probe into the leak on Friday at the request of the Defense
Department. Investigators are trying to quickly identify the source of
the breach.
Justice Department officials said they had been in touch with officials
at the Defense Department as their investigation got under way. Such
probes usually begin by determining who had access to the documents,
current and former officials said, which in this case could be
difficult, as potentially hundreds of government employees have security
clearances that would give them the ability to view the documents.
Justice Department spokespeople declined to comment Saturday on the
investigation.
The U.S. is considering a range of possibilities over how the breach
occurred, including that someone with top-secret security clearance
leaked the information or that U.S. intelligence systems were hacked,
U.S. officials said Saturday.
U.S. congressional leadership hasn’t been briefed about a leak but has
requested one, a congressional aide said. “We don’t know the scope of
this so it is hard to assess,” the aide said.
The White House was concerned about the damage caused by the leaks, U.S.
officials said. One official said some of the documents appeared to be
manipulated but that the Biden administration was still gathering
information about the matter.
The images were marked with “Top Secret” and other classifications
indicating they represent highly sensitive U.S.-produced intelligence.
The documents, which appear to originate from within the U.S. military
and intelligence agencies, include details about the disposition of
Ukrainian forces, air defenses and military equipment, classified
information about arms and support the U.S. has provided to Kyiv in its
fight against Russia, and intelligence on internal matters in several
nations.
In addition to documents pertaining to the war in Ukraine, the leaked
files included purported copies of the daily intelligence report
provided to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Mark Milley, Central Intelligence Agency
reports on leaders of Israel’s Mossad spy service, and intelligence on
discussions within the government of South Korea on sales of artillery
ammunition to Kyiv.
Because the documents appear to be images of printed presentation
slides, the investigation will likely focus on that possible method of
transferring them from a classified system. Classified documents can
only be printed on approved systems, which can be tracked.
In 2017, the government quickly identified Reality Winner, at the time a
contractor for the National Security Agency, who printed out top-secret
material and sent it to a news organization. The government was able to
track that only six people had printed the document since it was
published to a classified computer network, and then quickly narrowed it
down to Ms. Winner, who later pleaded guilty to leaking the information.
In another leak to the media, Terry Albury, an FBI special agent, tried
to avoid detection by cutting and pasting information from different
classified documents into a new one, and then printing it, according to
the government. He also, the government said, took pictures of
classified documents from his computer screen, so as to avoid printing
them. He was identified and pleaded guilty in 2018 to unauthorized
retention and transmission of classified information.
Ms. Winner and Mr. Albury, both of whom served time in prison for their
disclosures, said they leaked information to the media in the hopes of
turning public attention to important issues. Ms. Winner said the
document she leaked was intended to prove Russian interference in the
2016 elections, while Mr. Albury has described his disclosures as
intending to cast light on what he alleged were FBI abuses.
Ms. Winner declined to comment. Mr. Albury deferred to his attorney, who
didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
—Matthew Luxmoore and Sharon Weinberger contributed to this article.
Write to Nancy A. Youssef at nancy.youssef-at-wsj.com, Yaroslav Trofimov at
yaroslav.trofimov-at-wsj.com and Sadie Gurman at sadie.gurman-at-wsj.com
Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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