Blinken Downplays Tension With U.S. Allies Over Pentagon Leaks: ‘Not Affected Our

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said over the weekend that dozens of leaks of classified intelligence from the Pentagon had not affected U.S. cooperation with allies.

The Pentagon leaks have set off a series of foreign policy controversies that the Biden administration is attempting to tamp down, from accusations of U.S. spying on allied nations to concerns among allies about the security of intelligence shared with the U.S.

Blinken and other Biden administration diplomats have attempted to reassure allies about the security of U.S. intelligence despite hundreds of pages of leaked intelligence.

“We have engaged with our allies and partners since these leaks came out, and we have done so at high levels, and we have made clear our commitment to safeguarding intelligence and our commitment to our security partnerships,” said Blinken Saturday when asked about concerns he may have heard from U.S. allies over the leaks.

“What I’ve heard so far at least is an appreciation for the steps that we’re taking, and it’s not affected our cooperation. I just haven’t seen that. I haven’t heard that,” continued Blinken. “And of course, the investigation is taking its course. There’s now, as you know, a suspect in custody but importantly as well, I know, measures being taken to further safeguard information. But to date, based on the conversations I’ve had, I have not – not heard anything that would affect our cooperation with allies and partners.”

The FBI arrested 21-year-old Jack Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, on Thursday and charged him with violating the Espionage Act for posting dozens of transcriptions and photos of classified documents to a private Discord server. Many of the documents later circulated freely online after a member of the Discord group posted them publicly.

U.S. allies have reportedly expressed concern over the security of U.S. intelligence before and after it was revealed that the leaks allegedly came from Teixeira, a junior IT worker in the Air National Guard. Teixeira was granted top-secret security clearance to aid his unit in sharing intelligence for combat support and homeland security.

An official from a European country told The Washington Post that the leaks have “caused some damage as it raises doubts as to how intelligence is protected and handled.” Other nations cannot afford to restrict intelligence sharing with the U.S. because of the importance of having access to U.S. intelligence, however.

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“Intel agencies will sort this out,” the official said. “I don’t believe anyone could afford really stopping the cooperation.”

Despite the lack of action, the leaks are still “devastating” to U.S. allies, according to one former U.S. intelligence official.

“It’s hard to trust us with your secrets if we can’t protect them,” former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Bill Lynn told CNBC.

“It’s devastating to our allies to see that kind of information being promulgated,” said Lynn. “It was shared too widely … but that’s 20-20 hindsight and easy to say now.”