A former DOJ leak czar has an explanation of how the document investigation will work

What can we learn from the documents about Ukraine? A National Security Correspondence with Greg Myre: The Detection of National Security Damage by Edward Snowden

The documents viewed by NPR appear to be briefing slides — put together daily for top Pentagon and national security officials — focused on Ukraine, with maps and charts pertaining to their troops and weapons, national security correspondent Greg Myre told Morning Edition.

At a time when the US and the Ukrainian forces are preparing for a counteroffensive against the Russians and as the US and the Ukrainian forces begin to develop a more trusting relationship over intelligence sharing, there are still others talking about the weaknesses in Ukrainian weaponry, air defense, and battalion sizes.

Brandon Van Grack, a former Justice Department leak czar, says that national security damage has certainly been done.

The only question is how much damage occurred and how the threat is still present. “We don’t know if the individual or individuals still have access to classified information and whether there could be additional leaks, and so right now this has to be the top priority.”

Van Grack was in charge of the investigation into Edward Snowden, who leaked thousands of documents, when he was at the Justice Department. The Morrison & Foerster is a partner that represents the site Discord, which was one of the sites where the Ukraine documents were shared.

He spoke with Morning Edition’s A Martnez about what could be going on behind the scenes as law enforcement and intelligence officials work together to try to plug the leak.

The FBI, along with the DOJ, is probably issuing search warrants and subpoenas through the weekend because they want to know what companies have relevant information. The intelligence committee is looking at the leaked documents to see if they can identify the people who were supposed to be in them.

You should begin with the FBI, the DOJ and all of the reporting that companies and individuals have done if you want to gather evidence. At the same time, you are closely coordinating with the intelligence community. There are multiple documents, and there are images in those documents … and I think you are culling through that information to try to narrow the group of individuals who may have had access to it.

You’re walking and chewing gum at the same time. Right now the focus needs to be, and is, identifying who this person or these persons are, period. It needs to be the priority. As that’s going on, to the extent that they do identify someone, then you’re starting to put together a charging document and figure out that aspect of it. But right now the priority has to be the identification and ensuring that there are no further leaks coming.

Because of special counsel appointments we don’t know exactly what the overlap is, but there should be some overlap of those individuals and expertise. There are some people who have been running for a few months on those cases, and now need to focus on this for the time being.

This case shows why it is so critical that we enforce criminally the laws that make it unlawful to willfully retain or disclose classified information. There’s millions of Americans that have access to … untold amounts of classified information, and they can’t all be monitored. There is a way in which you can control access and ensure it doesn’t be disclosed to people who aren’t able to.

The Biden administration is scrambling to contain the effects of the leak of classified Pentagon documents that has rattled US officials, members of Congress and key allies.

But, to date, no one is certain about who leaked the information or how it ended up on social media sites.

The Defense Department is still reviewing the matter and has taken steps to tighten the flow of sensitive documents which are normally available to hundreds of people across the government.

Congressional lawmakers have also expressed concerns about the apparent scope of the leak and sensitivity of the documents posted online but largely remain in the dark about what has occurred.

Both House and Senate Intelligence Committee leaders are demanding answers from the Biden administration. House Intelligence Chairman Mike Turner is set to get a briefed on Monday, and his Senate counterparts have also asked for one.

Documents Leaked by the United States on South Korea, Israel, Ukraine and Ukraine: How the US had a Problem with the National Security Council

The photos are of crumpled documents laid on top of magazines with other random objects around them. A source familiar with documents like this told CNN that they looked as if they had been folded up and pushed into a pocket.

Some of the documents, which US officials say are authentic, expose the extent of US eavesdropping on key allies, including South Korea, Israel and Ukraine.

Others have shown the degree to which the US has penetrated the Russian Ministry of Defense, using intercept communications and human sources that could now result in their being cut off.

One document reveals that the US has been spying on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. That is unsurprising, said a source close to Zelensky, but Ukrainian officials are deeply frustrated about the leak.

The US intelligence report states that in February Zelensky suggested striking Russian forces in Russia with drones, since he didn’t have long-range weapons.

Signals intelligence includes intercepted communications and is broadly defined by the National Security Agency as “intelligence derived from electronic signals and systems used by foreign targets, such as communications systems, radars, and weapons systems.”

The document shows a conversation between two senior South Korean national security officials about the National Security Council’s concerns over a US request for ammunition.

The officials worried that supplying the ammunition, which the US would then send to Ukraine, would violate South Korea’s policy of not supplying lethal aid to countries at war. According to the document, one of the officials then suggested a way of getting around the policy without actually changing it – by selling the ammunition to Poland.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/10/politics/classified-documents-leak-explainer/index.html

Five Eyes diplomats in Jerusalem have not yet been given a briefing by the US on damage assessment after the Mossad leak

An intelligence report about Israel, meanwhile, has sparked outrage in Jerusalem. The report produced by the CIA and source to signals intelligence says that Israel’s main intelligence agency, the Mossad, encouraged protests against the new government.

Key allies who are part of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing arrangement (Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom) have not yet been given a briefing by the US on where they are on the damage assessment or efforts to identify the leaker, two Five Eyes diplomats told CNN on Monday.

“We expect the US to share a damage assessment with us in the coming days, but we cannot wait for their assessment. Right now we are doing our own,” said an official from a country that is part of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing arrangement with the US, which includes Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

The official made the point that it was alarming to read one of the documents in February titled “Russia-Ukraine: Battle for the Donbas Region Likely”. Heading for a Stalemate Throughout 2023.” The document notes the challenges of assessing the endurance of Ukrainian operations.

The official said the private US assessment pointed to a likely yearlong stalemate and that it was not helpful to have it public.

Mykhailo Podolyak, the adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, said on his Telegram channel Friday that he believes the documents that have been disseminated are inauthentic, have “nothing to do with Ukraine’s real plans” and are based on “a large amount of fictitious information” disseminated by Russia.

US government officials “are engaging with allies and partners at high levels over this including to reassure them of our commitment to safeguarding intelligence and the fidelity of securing our partnerships” following the leak, State Department principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said Monday.

At the State Department, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman has been tapped to lead the diplomatic response, according to a US official familiar with the matter.

The Easter holiday slowed the pace of talks recently, according to one of the diplomats who said they expect a briefing from officials in the coming days.

The Joint Staff is looking at the distribution lists to see who gets the reports, according to a Defense official. Some of the documents had markings indicating that they had been produced by the Joint Staff intelligence arm, known as J2, and appeared to be briefings.

The team working on the leak is comprised of the Defence Departments legislative affairs, public affairs, policy, general counsel, intelligence and security, and joint staff offices, an assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs said Monday.

The Department of Defense referred the leak of documents to the Department of Justice for criminal investigation, so if the government has a clue as to who leaked them, they should ask the Department of Justice.