Lines of communication over the U.S.’s national security between the White House and Congress are strained as speculation grows that a preliminary report on the strikes on Iranian nuclear sites was leaked out of Capitol Hill.
The White House has been put under pressure to provide more information on the bombings in Iran last weekend, as bits and pieces begin to leak to the media and House leaders threaten to limit classified briefings for rank-and-file lawmakers.
Johnson told lawmakers he thinks the leak was a “substantial setback” and guessed the leak to the two major outlets came “probably from this body.”
“It probably affects what we are able to be told because there are real risks to that,” Johnson said, following remarks from President Donald Trump that he wants to limit the flow of intelligence due to the leaks. “So, it’s unfortunate. It affects how the institution works, and that’s a problem, so we got to address it.”
Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) criticized the White House for not briefing the “Gang of Eight” on Capitol Hill, a group that consists of Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), and Jeffries, along with the top members of the House and Senate intelligence committees.
Another point of frustration within the Democratic caucus came when intelligence officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, were set to brief lawmakers on the operation Tuesday, before being delayed just hours before they were set to meet.
The briefing instead took place Friday morning — almost a full week after the strikes took place — where Democrats left unsatisfied with the information they received, saying they still have more questions.
“It wasn’t particularly enlightening and there remain a whole host of questions that need to be answered for the American people,” Jeffries told reporters leaving the briefing.
“I still have questions and frankly, they had a hard stop and had to leave to attend to other matters, and there are a lot more members who had some questions to ask,” Rep. Gabe Amo (D-RI) told the Washington Examiner.
Democrats are not the only party that feels this lack of trust surrounding recent international developments.
Earlier this week, before the briefing, CNN and the New York Times reported that the strikes only set Iran’s nuclear program back months as opposed to years, based on an early Pentagon intelligence assessment. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt snapped back at CNN in response to the leaked intelligence.
“This reporter wrote a lie from the intelligence community to seek a narrative she wanted to prove,” Leavitt said Thursday. “This is a reporter who has been used by people who dislike Donald Trump in this government to push fake and false narratives.”
The White House planned to limit classified information flow to Congress following the leak, which immediately prompted pushback from Democrats. Axios reported that a White House official confirmed the decision, saying the information was shared soon after it was posted to a system used to share information with Congress, CAPNET.
The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence’s top members sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel requesting that they conduct an investigation into the leak, and if the perpetrator is found, they are to be prosecuted to the “fullest extent of the law.”
“As the Chairman and Ranking Member of the relevant congressional committee tasked with overseeing the U.S. Intelligence Community, these allegations of improper disclosure of national security information strike at the heart of our solemn and apolitical mission to ensure classified data never falls into the hands of our adversaries,” Chairman Rick Crawford (R-AR) and ranking member Jim Himes (D-CT) wrote in a joint statement. “We are unified in our understanding that improper disclosure of classified information has no place in our body politic, nor are such disclosures in our nation’s interests.”
The White House sent legal letters to both publications following the leak, prompting a response from both outlets.
“No retraction is needed. No apology will be forthcoming. We told the truth to the best of our ability. We will continue to do so,” the New York Times said.
CNN responded to Trump’s attacks, specifically when he called on the CNN reporters to be fired, by defending their reporting.
“We stand 100% behind Natasha Bertrand’s journalism and specifically her and her colleagues’ reporting,” the outlet said.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) responded to the leaks, seemingly confirming the information found in the reports.
“To me, it still appears that we have only set back the Iranian nuclear program by a handful of months,” Murphy said. “There’s no doubt there was damage done to the program, but the allegations that we have obliterated their program just don’t seem to stand up to reason.”
“I just do not think the president was telling the truth when he said this program was obliterated,” Murphy added.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he had “some concern” that people are jumping to conclusions too early. He said he thinks “leaks of any crimes should be prosecuted.”
HOUSE LAWMAKERS LEAVE IRAN BRIEFING TIGHT-LIPPED AND DIVIDED ON SATISFACTION
“I simply wish that the administration would adhere to that same level of secrecy about classified information that shouldn’t be shared on nonclassified channels, like Signal, and the fact that we still don’t know whether the participants on some of those calls have ever even had their phone scrubbed for malware. That is not right,” Warner said.
In response to the attacks last Saturday, Iran launched a missile attack on Monday against a U.S. military base in Qatar that resulted in no damage or casualties. Trump then announced Iran and Israel agreed to a ceasefire that remains fragile.
Samantha-Jo Roth contributed to this report.