US Department of Defense says leaked documents pose serious risk to national security
(VOVWORLD) - Chris Meagher, assistant to the US Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, said Monday that the leak of highly sensitive US documents presents a very serious risk to US national security.
 The Pentagon, the headquarters of the US Department of Defense in Washington DC (Photo: Reuters) |
The 100 pages of documents circulating online have the potential to spread disinformation, Meagher told journalists, adding that the US Department of Defense is investigating how this happened and the scope of the issue.
Last Friday, the US Department of Justice opened an investigation into the origin and authenticity of these documents. Many reports indicate that the leaked documents began to appear on social media sites but now no longer exist on the web as before. Observers say the US government is trying to remove the information.
The highly-classified secret materials distributed on more mainstream sites are similar to the format of routine updates that the US military’s Joint Staff would produce daily but not distribute publicly.
The documents, released between February 23 and March 1, seem to detail US training and equipment to be sent to Ukraine with more precise timelines and quantities than what Washington usually makes public.