00:00Regarding the investigation into the leak that the president referenced yesterday,
00:05what is the administration's position on the Washington Post reporter?
00:08The Post has reported that she was told that she's not a target of the investigation.
00:13Does the administration believe she did anything wrong?
00:16And then also, what is the administration's position on the Pentagon Papers case from the 1970s
00:22that affirmed reporters' right to publish classified information under certain circumstances?
00:27Well, since this is an active investigation, I don't want to comment on it much more than what we did yesterday
00:33to obviously confirm the investigation, and I can confirm what the attorney general stated,
00:38and the president as well, which is that the individual, unfortunately a contractor at the Pentagon,
00:43chose to unlawfully leak classified and very serious information to this Washington Post reporter,
00:51hence why the reporter's home was looked into by the FBI, rightfully so.
00:56And the administration is not going to tolerate leaks, especially from within the national security apparatus
01:03of the United States government that put our nation's integrity and our national security at risk.
01:09Full stop.
01:10The president will not support that.
01:12I know the secretary of war will not support that, and it will not stand.
01:16And legal action will be taken against anyone, whether it's a member of the press
01:21or whether it's an employee for a federal agency who breaks the law.
01:25If you break the law and if you endanger our men and women in uniform,
01:29you are going to be held accountable, period, full stop.
01:31But does this administration, does this administration believe that this reporter or any reporter
01:36has a right to publish classified information under certain circumstances?
01:41Look, I think that we do not believe that individuals who have been given the privilege of holding a top-secret clearance
01:48should be illegally leaking that classified information, and I know the American people agree with that.
01:53And I think it's a basic tenet of journalistic integrity not to publish information
01:59that could directly endanger the operational security or the brave men and women
02:04who are serving this country in uniform and putting themselves in harm's way to protect
02:08not just the people of this administration, but all of you and the press and all of their fellow Americans as well.
Comments