National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard said he made two criminal referrals on Wednesday in connection with alleged leaks in the intelligence reporting community, saying the third introduction was “in the middle.”
In a post on social platform X, Gabbard said the third crime referral “contains a recent illegal leak to the Washington Post.”
“The leakage of information classified as the politicization of our intelligence must endanger and end the security of our country,” Gabbard said in her statement. “People who leaked classified information will be held liable to the fullest extent of the law.”
Gabbard said he looks forward to working with federal law enforcement to prosecute “deep state criminals” allegedly involved.
“The offenders from these deep states have leaked information that was classified to undermine the Potus agenda for partisan political purposes. We look forward to working with @thejusticedept and @FBI to investigate, terminate and prosecute these offenders,” she writes.
The statement comes as Trump administration officials attempt to crack down on leaks to journalists. Last month, Gabbard announced that the Trump administration would “actively pursue” leaks, accusing them of being politically motivated.
“Unfortunately, such leaks have become a commonplace in a state of investigation and accountability. It’s now over. We are actively pursuing recent leaks from within the intelligence news community and are accountable,” Gabbard wrote in a post last month.
The leak is said to be plaguing the Department of Defense (DOD) recently.
The Pentagon on Friday fired senior aides Dan Caldwell, Colin Carroll and Darrin Selnick after DOD began investigating leaks of information to news outlets.
The three political appointees were not told in a joint statement on Saturday what they were investigated for and said they were “incredibly disappointed with the way our service at the Department of Defense has ended.”
“An unknown Pentagon official slandered our character with an unfounded attack on his way out the door,” they write. “All three of us served our country in honor. For the two of us, this included the development of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And based on our collective services, we understood the importance of information security and worked to protect it every day.”
But Defense Secretary Pete Hegses has recently doubled, and in an interview Tuesday, the former top aide said he could face charges at the end of the alleged leak.
“We’re going to investigate. When we do that, we’ll take it where it leads,” Hegses said in an interview with Brian Kilmead on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends.”
“When the evidence was collected enough – and this all happened very quickly – it’s handed over to the DOJ [the Department of Justice]and those people will be charged if necessary,” the secretary added.
