The Pentagon and the Justice Department have created a joint task force to track down and prosecute leakers as part of the Defense Department’s efforts to clamp down on the disclosure of classified information.
On Monday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that, effective immediately, the Pentagon’s Office of General Counsel will have the authority to request and receive all information about potential leaks throughout the department.
“The unauthorized disclosure of sensitive [Defense Department] information has the very real potential to cause exceptionally grave damage to our national security and the operational integrity of our armed forces,” Mr. Hegseth said in a message posted on X. “To leak sensitive national defensae information and secrets betrays the men and women who wear our nation’s uniform.”
News of the anti-leak task force comes days after the Justice Department issued subpoenas to four New York Times reporters after the newspaper reported security concerns about President Trump’s Qatari-donated jet, which he used to travel to Turkey for the NATO summit.
Stephen J. Adler, chairman of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said press freedom is about the right of the public to learn how their governments work and make informed decisions based on independent reporting.
“When the public’s right to know, as the Trump administration is tryijng to do with his subpoenas against The New York Times, all of us suffer irreparable harm as does the freedom upon which this nation is built,” Mr. Adler said in a statement over the weekend.
Mr. Hegseth said tracking down leakers will be a priority for the Defense Department. Any request for information made by the Office of General Counsel about leaks must be addressed within 48 hours.
“Leaked information risks lives. These new tools and processes will greatly assist us in protecting our joint force,” he said. “Access to confidential and secret information is a sacred trust. Those who betray that trust will be met with the full force of the law.”
