Sarah Roderick-Fitch
(The Center Square) – The FBI has arrested a former U.S. Special Operations Command employee for allegedly leaking the downing of the F-15e fighter jet shot down over Iran late last week, the FBI announced Wednesday.
FBI Director Kash Patel described the suspected leaker as a former SOCOM employee, “who supported our top-level military warfighters, for allegedly transmitting classified information to a member of the media.”
During a Monday press conference at the White House, President Donald Trump told reporters that the government was “looking very hard to find that leaker,” describing the leaker as a “sick person.”
During the press conference, the president said his administration would go to the unnamed media company that broke the story, pressuring them to disclose the source of the leak, threatening jail time and citing national security.
For over two days, the administration and the Pentagon refused to confirm the crash and the subsequent report of the missing pilot, despite multiple media reports.
Trump claimed the leak placed the pilot and military rescuers at risk.