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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Anna Betts

Hegseth announces joint taskforce with DoJ to target and prosecute press leaks

a man in a suit
Pete Hegseth during a press conference at the Nato Summit in Ankara, Turkey, on 8 July 2026. Photograph: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

The US defense secretary, ⁠Pete Hegseth, ​announced on Monday that the Pentagon and the US Department of Justice have created a “joint taskforce ​to identify and ​prosecute” what he called the “unauthorized disclosure ​of sensitive” information to the press, marking the latest escalation in the Trump administration’s effort to crackdown on leaks.

In a ⁠video ​posted on X, Hegseth said that “to combat the dangers that leaks pose, effectively immediately, I have ​delegated tasking authority ​to the war department’s ‌office ⁠of general counsel, empowering OGC to request and receive ​all ​information, ⁠records and support across the ​department concerning ​media ⁠leak investigations”.

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