Soldier of Fortune Magazine The Journal of Professional Adventurers
ANALYSIS by Susan Katz Keating
Soldier of Fortune has not viewed nor received copies of the classified documents; nor will we link to any site that claims to describe the contents.
[Updated Oct. 23, 2024]While the FBI launches a probe into Friday’s unauthorized leak of classified U.S. intelligence documents, the White House says it has no idea how the top-secret material came to be posted on a Telegram channel. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, who should be the voice of clarity and stability, instead seemed confused about the issue when he spoke to journalists on Monday. “We’re not exactly sure how these documents found their way into the public domain,” Kirby said. “I know that the Department of Defense is investigating this matter.”
The highly classified documents reportedly contain U.S. intelligence assessments about Israel’s preparations for a retaliatory strike against Iran in response to the October 1 ballistic missile attack.
Soldier of Fortune has not viewed nor received copies of the classified documents; nor will we link to any site that claims to describe the contents in detail.
READ MORE: Inside Iran’s ‘Axis of Resistance’ Against Israel
Republican lawmakers denounced what they characterize as this and other “strategic leaks” emanating from the Biden administration, alleging that the disclosures are designed to undermine Israel – and that they are traitorous acts.
Leaking such information is a federal crime, said Sen Marco Rubio (R-FL), vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, while appearing on Fox. “It’s also an act of treason. It’s aiding an enemy of the United States, a government in Iran that basically says ‘death to America, death to Israel’ every week. It’s their slogan.”
While speculation swirled about who posted the documents to Telegram, others restated their longstanding concerns about what they described as lax standards from the Biden-Harris administration in regard to security.
Senator Roger WIcker, ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, posted on X a copy of his letter last year asking Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to yank the security clearance of the Iranian-born chief of staff to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict.
In the letter dated Sept. 29, 2023, Wicker and 30 Senate Republicans demanded a full accounting of actions taken by Pentagon official Ariane Tabatabai – who, they wrote, “has close links to the Iranian government.”
“Leaked emails show Tabatabai asking the Iranian government for input on her speaking engagements and offering to consult with the Iranian government on a congressional briefing that she was invited to give,” the Senators wrote.
In the letter, the senators wrote that it is “unconscionable” for Tabatabai to continue holding a security clearance.
At a Pentagon briefing on Tuesday, DoD spokesman Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder referenced public commentary that a specific Pentagon official should be looked at as a possible suspect.
“To my knowledge, this official is not a subject of interest,” Ryder said without naming Tabatabai. “I don’t want to start throwing out names to perpetuate information,” he said, adding, “to my knowledge, the official that was being referenced is not a subject of interest. So I’ll just leave it there.”
Republicans also have questioned the lack of clarity surrounding the suspension of Iran special envoy Robert Malley, who is accused of mishandling classified material by storing it on a personal email account. This sensitive information reportedly fell into the hands of a “hostile cyber actor.”
Soldier of Fortune was not immediately able to reach Tabatabai nor Malley.
The FBI on Tuesday acknowledged that it has launched an inquiry into how classified material recently came to be posted on Telegram.
“The FBI is investigating the alleged leak of classified documents and working closely with our partners in the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community,” the FBI said in a statement.
The investigation will include scrutiny of who had access to the documents, according to a security official with knowledge of the inquiry.
Kirby, meanwhile, in his remarks sounded more like a schoolteacher addressing children who didn’t share the swings during recess.
“That is not supposed to happen, and it’s unacceptable when it does.”
Here at Soldier of Fortune, we view it as the senators do: unconscionable.
Susan Katz Keating is the publisher and editor in chief at Soldier of Fortune.
