CIA Director Mike Pompeo said he’s “counting on” preventing and punishing leakers in the near future.
He said during an interview shown Saturday on MSNBC that the “sole purpose” of WikiLeaks and other similar groups that expose classified government information was to undermine America and democracy. The Trump administration was going to make stopping them a top priority, he said.
“We, and I would say all of President Trump’s government, is incredibly focused on both stopping leaks, of any kind, from any agency, and when they happen, pursuing them with incredible vigor. And I think we’ll have some successes both on the deterrent side, that is stopping them from happening, as well as on punishing those who we catch, who have done it,” Pompeo said in an interview with Hugh Hewitt on his new show.
Asked if stopping and punishing some of these leakers would be happening soon, Pompeo replied: “I’m counting on it.”
The Trump administration seems to be making some progress on this front already. Last month it was reported that a 25-year-old federal contractor, Reality Leigh Winner, is facing charges that she leaked a classified National Security Agency document to a news outlet in May.
