The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee said Thursday that the United Kingdom has “every right to be furious” and called for immediate action to remedy the U.S. leaks information about the Manchester bombing investigation.
“If the reports are accurate that the United States leaked information that was shared by the United Kingdom in relation to the Manchester bombing suspect, the British government has every right to be furious,” said Rep. Adam Schiff, the ranking member on the committee.
Mr. Schiff has spearheaded the committee’s probe of alleged Trump campaign links to Russian spies to interfere with the U.S. presidential election, a probe that has been propelled forward by intelligence leaks.
The committee acknowledge in mid-March that it was investigating leaks and pressing the FBI, CIA, and National Security Agency to cooperate.
Still, the leak to The New York Times about details of the U.K. investigation of the deadly terrorist bombing in Manchester elevated the concern over leaks to new heights.
“The United Kingdom is one of our best intelligence partners, and the intel-sharing relationship is critical to our security and theirs,” Mr. Schiff said. “Any break or deviation from that relationship or the profound trust we have in the British and they have in us, would be a grave loss for both countries. We must take any steps necessary to remedy this problem immediately.”
The U.K. reportedly stopped sharing intelligence from the bomb investigation with the U.S. over the unauthorized disclosure to the news media.
Earlier, President Trump ordered an FBI probe into the leaks from government agencies and called the failure to keep secrets “deeply troubling.”
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.