Recently The Defense News posted an article reporting that on Thursday U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper told members of the House Armed Services Committee that he has ordered an investigation into leaks of both classified and unclassified material to media.
The article reports:
The secretary brought up what he called an aggressive effort to pursue leaks after a series of what he called “bad leaks” in the fall.
“I’ve launched an investigation that is underway to go after leaks, whether it’s of classified information or unclassified information that is sensitive and also, you know, unauthorized discussions with the media,” Esper said. “All those things, again, hurt our nation’s security. They undermine our troops, their safety. They affect our relations with other countries. They undermine our national policy.
“The illegal leaks are terrible. They’re happening across the government, particularly in the Defense Department.”
He also said he is launching a new effort to “remind people” of operational security issues in the Pentagon.
Esper’s comments came after both he and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley reaffirmed in front of lawmakers their belief that a free and open press is vital to American democracy.
The article notes that former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis also tried to deal with the problem of leaks. The article mentions that at one point, he implemented a crackdown on information sharing at the Pentagon. As a result, what was once routine information to be shared with the public became opaque over concerns of operational security. What we need is something that is in between compromising national security and classifying something simply because it portrays some area of the government in a bad light.
