The White House revealed Monday that some of the classified files in the Ukraine intelligence leak are tampered with — but they are still taking it seriously, The Hill reported.
John Kirby, a National Security Council spokesman, told reporters that President Joe Biden was briefed last week on documents primarily about the ongoing war in Ukraine circulating on social media.
The United States is now coordinating with relevant allies and partners about the content of the leaks, who or what country is responsible, and whether they are even reliable.
"We know that some of them have been doctored. I won't speak to the validity of all the documents. ... We're still working through the validity of all the documents we know are out there," Kirby said, insisting that they "don't know" if more will be released.
"I think we just need to be careful right now speculating or guessing what might be behind or who might be behind a potential leak here of classified information," he continued. "We need to let the process sort of bear itself out."
Kirby's statement comes several days after a number of supposed U.S. classified materials appeared on Twitter and Telegram. Much of the content was related to Ukraine, but China, Israel, and South Korea were also named.
Several national security experts warned that the leak, which shows the U.S. intelligence community spying on its allies, could be a disinformation campaign organized by Moscow.
"I do believe it is an example of hybrid warfare meant to shake the faith of the Ukrainian population," cybersecurity expert Tom Kellermann told The Register. "Russia is the king of disinformation and hybrid warfare."
It remains unclear how the documents ended up on social media platforms.