US will ‘turn every rock’ to find source of leak, says Pentagon chief

Reuters has reviewed more than 50 documents labeled “Secret” and “Top Secret” that first appeared on social media sites in March and allegedly reveal details of the military capabilities of some US allies and adversaries .

Reuters has not independently verified the authenticity of the documents.

“We will continue to investigate and turn every rock until we find the source and the extent of it,” Austin said during a news conference at the State Department.

Austin, the first senior US official to comment on the leak, said the Pentagon knew the documents were posted on February 28 and March 1, but was not sure whether other documents were online earlier.

“These are things that we will find out as we continue to investigate,” Austin said.

Investigators are working to determine what individual or group may have had the ability and motivation to release the intelligence report. The leak could be the most damaging release of US government information since the 2013 publication of thousands of documents on WikiLeaks.

Some of the most sensitive information allegedly pertains to Ukraine’s military capabilities and shortcomings and one document mentions the small number of Western special forces in the country.

The US Department of Justice has opened a criminal investigation into the disclosure of the documents.

Some national security experts and US officials say they suspect the leaker may have been American, given the breadth of topics covered in the documents. More theories may develop as the investigation progresses, he said. (Reporting by Idris Ali; Additional reporting by Simon Lewis, Kanishka Singh and David Brunnstrom; Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)