John Kelly: Manchester Bombing Leaks Are ‘Darn Close To Treason’

Saagar Enjeti on May 28, 2017

Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly chastised leaks to the media concerning details of the Manchester bombing, in a Sunday interview on “Meet The Press.”

“I believe when you leak the kind of information that seems to be routinely leaked – high, high level of classification… I think it’s darn close to treason,” Kelly declared. He continued that after he saw the leaks, “I immediately called my counterpart in the UK. And after offering my condolences about the attack … She immediately brought this topic up. And, if it came from the United States, it’s totally unacceptable. And I don’t know why people do these kind of things, but it’s borderline, if not over the line, of treason.”

Kelly’s comments come after the U.K. temporarily suspended Manchester bombing intelligence sharing with the U.S. Thursday after photos of the crime scene appeared in The New York Times. British Prime Minister Theresa May considered the leak so serious that she said she would raise the matter with President Donald Trump to stress that information shared between the two allies must remain secret.

President Donald Trump pledged in a Thursday statement to get to the bottom of the leaks and suggested that he may even prompt prosecution of the leakers. Intelligence sharing resumed Friday after May’s warning to Trump.

Follow Saagar Enjeti on Twitter

Send tips to [email protected]

DCwire features investigative reporting syndicated with permission from the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Mentioned in this article: