Lawmakers demand accountability from DOD on leaks

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Senate Armed Services Committee member Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) pressed the department to take action on possibly illegal disclosures of information emanating from the Pentagon. 

{mosads}”The United States has suffered significant intelligence losses as a result of insider leaks,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. 

“Unauthorized disclosures of intelligence collection sources and methods harm our country and the effectiveness of the intelligence community,” according to the letter, sent to the Pentagon on Tuesday. 

The letter came on the same day a military judge recommended a reduction to the prison sentence for former Army intelligence analyst Bradley Manning. 

The judge, Army Col. Denise Lind convicted Manning on five counts of espionage and five counts of theft related to his illegal disclosure of classified military, intelligence and diplomatic documents to WikiLeaks. 

But Lind opted to reduce Manning’s maximum sentence of 136 years down to 90, during a sentencing hearing at Ft. Meade, Md., according to recent reports. 

Prior to the hearing, she also acquitted the 25-year-old Army private of providing aid to the enemy, a charge that carried the death penalty if convicted. 

The Manning case and the leaks of classified domestic surveillance programs by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden have reignited calls by Congress for the White House, Pentagon and intelligence community to plug such leaks. 

While the Defense Department “employs a vast security infrastructure” to prevent illegal leaks of information, disclosures of high-level, classified intelligence operations continue, according to the lawmakers. 

Leahy and Graham noted the Snowden incident was more infuriating, since they took place two years after a White House executive order, specifically geared toward “establishing policies on combating insider [leaks],” the letter states. 

“Clearly what the government does not lack is a policy or the senior designated officials to carry it out,” the lawmakers write. 

“What does appear lacking … in the aftermath of both leak cases is accountability,” Leahy and Graham added. 

As a result, both Senators are demanding Hagel and the Pentagon provide details on what disciplinary actions the department has taken in the wake of the Manning and Snowden leaks. 

“Have any of these … organizations been held accountable, and if so, at what level?” the letter asks. “What further steps are being taken to reduce the chance of similar incidents from occurring in the future.”