Brennan: leaks have been 'devastating...unconscionable'

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Politico:

Deputy National Security Adviser John Brennan said Wednesday that some recent leaks of national security secrets have done serious damage, but he also lashed back at critics who have charged that President Barack Obama's White House staff is responsible for the breaches.

"There have been some devastating leaks," Brennan said during a Council on Foreign Relations event in Washington Wednesday afternoon. "I'm not going to point to any of them. So, I don't want to validate any of the things that are out there, but it's unconscionable what has gone out."

Brennan said Obama has given firm instructions to his top aides to safefguard national security information and believes those who release such information illegally should be prosecuted.

"The president has made his displeasure abundantly clear to his senior team that, for whatever reason, if someone is trying to advance their own equities or interests or they want to just be able to sort of, you know, cultivate a relationship with a reporter, whatever, there are sources and methods there are very very critical national secuirty matters that require the protection of that information, so it doesn't get out, so we can keep the American people safe," said the White House official, who oversees counterterrorism and homeland security issues for the National Security Council.

(Also on POLITICO:Peter King 'tired' of media bashing leak bill)

While Brennan told the PBS Newshour's Margaret Warner that there has "absolutely" been damage from the leaks, he also said he was disturbed by those who are laying blame for the leaks at the feet of White House staffers.

"Now, unfortunately, I think there's been a conflation also of people who are out there who are making specious and unfounded claims about individuals who have leaked national security secrets for political purposes," Brennan said. "It's easy to get up in front of a TV camera, quite frankly, and point fingers at the White House and say they're doing it for this or that. And frankly, I think a lot of those allegations are highly irresponsible."

________

 

He can't believe there's leaking going on in his establishment.