The Trump administration is planning to limit the amount of classified information it shares with Congress moving forward amid uproar over an internal preliminary assessment that found U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities may not have been as devastating as the president claimed.
The move is prompting Democratic pushback from those who argue it would be unwise to restrict congressional access based on suspicion.
A White House official confirmed the decision, which was first reported by Axios. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced earlier Wednesday that the Pentagon was launching an investigation into the leak of the assessment from the Defense Intelligence Agency.
“I am told by the FBI the leak already is being investigated, and it absolutely should be because this was a top secret intelligence analysis that very few people in the United States government had access to see,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Fox News Wednesday.
The U.S. last Saturday carried out strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities.
Despite assertions from the administration that the strikes set the country’s nuclear capabilities back by years, an initial intelligence assessment obtained by some media outlets suggested the damage was more limited, setting the program back only by a few months.
According to Axios, the information was shared shortly after it was posted on CAPNET, a system used to share information with Congress.
Rep. Jim Himes (Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, criticized the administration’s plans.
“The leak of classified information is unacceptable and should be fully investigated and those responsible held accountable. It’s also unacceptable for the Administration to use unsubstantiated speculation about the source of a leak to justify cutting off Congress from classified intelligence reporting, particularly when over a million people within the Executive Branch have clearance to access classified top-secret reporting,” he said.
“The law requires the congressional intelligence committees to be kept fully and currently informed, and I expect the Intelligence Community to comply with the law,” he continued.
Rep. Rick Crawford (R-Ark.), the chair of the intelligence panel, didn’t directly criticize the decision for Congress but lamented the result stemming from the leak.
“I am furious with the repeated, blatant disregard for the very simple, proper handling of classified information. When leakers leverage their access to highly sensitive information to push a political or personal agenda it is to the detriment of U.S. national security and incredibly disrespectful to those who put their lives on the line for our country collecting intelligence and supporting our mission on the ground. Access to classified information is a privilege and with that comes the utmost responsibility to safeguard that information with the highest level of caution and care,” he said in a statement.
“I will continue to work with the Administration to ensure information to keep Congress fully and currently informed is shared via the appropriate Committees with appropriate oversight responsibilities. This reckless and dangerous behavior must end–full stop.”
Lawmakers were set to receive classified briefings on Tuesday about the Trump administration’s strikes against Iran, but they were postponed until later this week.
The Senate briefing will now take place on Thursday. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) announced the House briefing would be Friday.
Administration officials have aggressively pushed back on reporting about an early internal assessment that found the U.S. strikes delayed Iran’s nuclear program by only a few months. Trump and others have referred to the sites as “obliterated” and argued they all but eliminated Iran’s ability to pursue a nuclear weapon.
President Trump also cited an assessment from the Israel Atomic Energy Commission about the success of the U.S. strikes on the Iranian nuclear facilities, which, together with Israeli strikes, set back Iran’s ability to develop a nuclear weapon “by many years.”
Updated at 8:36 p.m. EDT.
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