Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, said Thursday he has ordered an inquiry into whether anyone on the House Armed Services Committee leaked details of the Pentagon’s investigation into soldier deaths in Niger.
Thornberry, who is the committee chairman, said the leak of the Niger report details before families of the soldiers could be briefed was an “unconscionable breach of faith” and was urging other House chairmen to pursue similar inquiries.
“The families who lost loved ones to this tragedy have suffered enough,” he said in a statement. “They deserve the space to process the findings of this investigation before it is debated in the media. No one, whether in the legislative branch of the executive branch of government, has the right to take that space from them.”
The Wall Street Journal, NPR, and others have reported that the Pentagon investigation into the ambush death of four soldiers in the West Africa nation in October found the military made numerous missteps leading up to the incident.
The soldiers were working with local Nigerien forces against terror groups in the area when the ambush occurred. The incident shined a spotlight on U.S. military operations across Africa.
The finished investigation was turned over to Congress this week and family members of the fallen soldiers were being briefed, but it had not been publicly released Thursday.
“I have directed the staff director of the House Armed Services Committee to begin an inquiry to ensure that the leak did not come from our committee, and I urge the chairmen of the other committees with access to the report to do the same,” Thornberry said.
Thornberry said “a number of important oversight issues” remain and the committee wants a briefing from U.S. Africa Command as soon as possible.
