Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina has called for swift and severe consequences for the person responsible for leaking a classified intelligence report about U.S. military strikes on Iran. Speaking on Fox News with host Jesse Watters, Graham suggested the leak likely came from a member of Congress with access to sensitive intelligence, particularly someone on the House or Senate intelligence committees.
“You get the report. You get the initial assessment,” Graham explained. “We can rule me out as a leaker,” he added sarcastically, before emphasizing that leaking classified information is a serious crime, regardless of the individual’s political status.
Graham criticized the motives behind the leak, arguing it was done to politically undermine former President Donald Trump. “They have a political motivation. You don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to figure this out,” he said. “If you leaked classified information, you should go to jail.”
The leaked report allegedly cast doubt on the effectiveness of a U.S. strike that involved multiple 30,000-pound “bunker buster” bombs targeting Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. Though the Trump administration claimed “total obliteration,” leaked intelligence suggests the strike may have failed to halt Iran’s nuclear progress.
This contradiction has sparked outrage within Trump’s circle and heightened efforts to identify the source of the leak. Among those reportedly under scrutiny is Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who was removed from a scheduled congressional briefing on the operation.
Sources within Trump’s orbit claim she is now “in the line of fire” as officials investigate the breach. Michael Wolff, a Trump biographer, remarked that blame-shifting is a pattern within Trump’s administration, saying, “Tulsi is in the line of fire.”
Despite speculation, a White House insider downplayed the situation, telling the media that the controversy is being exaggerated. Nonetheless, the leak has escalated tensions within both Congress and the Trump administration, with potential legal consequences looming for whoever is found responsible.