White House clamps down on intel sharing with Congress over Iran leak
Photo: The administration intends to publish less information on CAPNET
The White House plans to limit the sharing of intelligence with members of the US Congress. This move comes after a preliminary assessment of the damage caused by US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities was leaked online, according to NBC News.
According to a senior White House official, the administration plans to reduce the amount of information published on CAPNET, a system used to share classified materials with Congress.
The decision, which is likely to upset Democrats, was made just as top government officials were set to hold a classified briefing for members of the Senate on Thursday afternoon regarding the strikes.
Axios was the first to report on the White House’s intention to limit the amount of information shared with Congress.
On Thursday, House Speaker Mike Johnson voiced the outrage of US President Donald Trump and his allies over the leaked preliminary assessment by the Defense Intelligence Agency regarding US strikes on Iran. The report indicated that Iran’s nuclear program had only been delayed by 3 to 6 months.
“There was a leak, and we’re trying to get down to the bottom of that. It’s dangerous and ridiculous that happened. We’re going to solve that problem, and we’ll keep the coordination,” Johnson told NBC in an interview.
When asked whether he believed the leak came from Congress, the Speaker replied, “That’s my suspicion.”
Despite the administration’s crackdown and Johnson’s suspicions, it remains unclear whether the leak originated from a member of Congress.
However, NBC News noted that lawmakers did have access to the intelligence community’s initial assessment of the strikes and were able to review it in a secure facility at the Capitol.
What preceded this
On the night of June 22, the US launched strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities. One of the priority targets was the underground site at Fordow, located inside a mountain. Experts claimed that only US bombs were powerful enough to destroy it.
After these events, Donald Trump made several statements claiming that Iran’s nuclear program had been completely destroyed. He also assured yesterday that Iran had no time to remove enriched uranium from the sites targeted by the US strikes.
However, Iranian officials told Reuters that most of the enriched uranium was reportedly removed from the Fordow facility before the US attack. They also said personnel were evacuated from the site.
Other Western media, citing US intelligence, reported that America had not fully succeeded in destroying Iran’s nuclear program.
Notably, according to the Financial Times, European sources also believe that Iran’s enriched uranium remained untouched and that stockpiles were not concentrated at the Fordow facility during the US strike.
