US vows crackdown on 'staggering' leaks, warns leakers
August 05, 2017  10:19
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The Trump administration on Friday issued a stern warning to those behind "the staggering number of leaks" of classified information and said that it was reviewing policies affecting media subpoenas.
The assertion came a day after The Washington Post posted highly classified transcripts of Trump's conversations with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
"I strongly agree with the President and condemn in the strongest terms the staggering number of leaks undermining the ability of our government to protect this country," United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions told reporters at a news conference.
"No one is entitled to surreptitiously fight to advance battles in the media by revealing sensitive government information," Sessions said.
Asserting that America "must end this culture of leaks", Sessions said the Department of Justice will investigate and bring criminals to justice.
"We will not allow rogue anonymous sources with security clearances to sell out our country. These cases, to investigate and prosecute, are never easy, but cases will be made and leakers will be held accountable," he asserted.
"No government can be effective when its leaders cannot discuss sensitive matters in confidence or talk freely in confidence with foreign leaders," said Sessions as he was joined by top intelligence officials to talk about the dramatic growth in the number of unauthorised disclosures of classified national security information in recent months.
The leaks are being made to both the media and, in some cases, even unauthorised disclosures to the foreign adversaries, Sessions said.
"Don't do it," Sessions said in a warning to the leakers.
"One of the things we are doing is reviewing policies affecting media subpoenas. We respect the important role that the press plays and will give them respect. But it is not unlimited. They cannot place lives at risk with impunity," Sessions asserted.
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