Trump Administration Looking For Ex-Top Military Officer Suspected Of Leaking Information: Report

The Donald Trump administration is looking for a retired high-ranking military officer who is suspected of leaking classified White House information to the media, the New York Post reported late Wednesday. The Department of Justice got the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to issue a warrant for carrying out electronic surveillance on journalists, who have received the inside information, the report added.

In its initial months, the Trump administration had to face several leaks by unnamed sources to various news outlets. Furthermore, the president’s troubled relationship with media is not new. Barring a few conservative news organizations, he has attacked almost all major media outlets and called their stories on him and his administration “fake news.”

Read: Did Donald Trump Fire James Comey For Refusing To Pledge Loyalty During White House Meeting?

According to the Post’s columnist John Crudele, a “Washington source” told him the journalists are not the target of the Justice Department’s surveillance, but the administration is focusing on a former high-ranking military officer who held “important posts in the intelligence service.” The officer received information from three people in the White House who were holdovers from the Barack Obama administration. These people have either been already fired or will soon be dismissed.

“And these cases, I’m told, have been turned over to the Justice Department for possible prosecution,” Crudele wrote.

This follows a May 25 report by CBS News that said two sources told the outlet three leakers of classified information at the White House were identified and were likely to be fired. Trump administration officials believe leaks of the president's conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov earlier this month were a "deliberate attempt" by Obama holdovers in a bid to tarnish the 70-year-old Republican's presidency.

On Sunday, Trump, in a tweet, called the leaks from the White House “fabricated lies.”

“It is my opinion that many of the leaks coming out of the White House are fabricated lies made up by the #FakeNews media,” the president tweeted.

On Wednesday, the Hill’s opinion contributor Brent Budowsky, who was an aide to former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Texas) and Rep. Bill Alexander (D-Arkansas, noted Trump specifically mentioned only the White House and not any other federal offices in his Sunday tweet.

“He did not tweet leaks coming out of the Department of Defense, or from the American military. He specifically mentioned the White House. Perhaps Trump should begin an internal investigation of his White House staff to determine who is responsible for leaks he correctly condemns so harshly,” Budowsky wrote.

In March, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer did not reject the idea that a “deep state” could be working to weaken the Trump administration. Deep state is a concept that suggests a coordinated effort is made by government employees and others to influence state policy without regard for the elected leadership.

“I think there’s no question when you have eight years of one party in office that stays in government [they’re] affiliated with, joined [to] and continue to espouse the agenda of the previous administration,” Spicer said at the time.

“I don’t think it should come as any surprise that there are people burrowed into government during eight years of the last administration and may have believed in that agenda and want to continue to seek it. I don’t think that should come as a surprise to anyone," the press secretary said then.