President Donald Trump dropped a major bombshell regarding his strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities on Thursday when he accused congressional Democrats of illegally leaking pro-Iranian information.
Specifically, Democrats allegedly leaked a preliminary Pentagon intelligence assessment that questioned the effectiveness of U.S. airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Intelligence officials have since dismissed the leaked report as unreliable propaganda.
“The Democrats are the ones who leaked the information on the PERFECT FLIGHT to the Nuclear Sites in Iran. They should be prosecuted!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The FBI is investigating Tuesday’s leak of a Defense Intelligence Agency assessment that claimed Iran’s nuclear development may only have been set back months by Saturday’s strikes on three nuclear facilities at Fordow, Isfahan, and Natanz using B-2 bombers and bunker-buster bombs.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Democrats in Congress may have been responsible for the leak, though she provided no specific evidence.
“It could have been someone in the intelligence community, or it could have been someone on Capitol Hill who had access to this document. The FBI is searching for that person,” Leavitt told reporters. “We have seen this playbook run before, where you have people in the intelligence community — or perhaps on Capitol Hill, we don’t know — but I believe the FBI is investigating to find out who that leaker was, because it’s illegal and they should be held accountable.”
CNN’s Natasha Bertrand first reported the preliminary DIA assessment Tuesday, with The New York Times, ABC, CNN, The Washington Post, and Associated Press quickly parroting the information.
However, former intelligence officials told The Washington Free Beacon the leaked report was fundamentally flawed and based on Iranian misinformation. The intelligence community deemed the assessment “low-confidence,” a classification CNN omitted from its original reporting.
“It’s basically messaging by the [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps], messaging by Tehran,” said Michael Pregent, a former intelligence officer with U.S. Central Command who operated in the Middle East for nearly 30 years. “DIA is taking a SIGINT report from the National Security Agency … and putting together an assessment to leak. I know it’s messaging, the Iranians know it’s messaging, and for some reason, NSA believes it’s actual f—ing intelligence.”
The DIA report was based solely on satellite imagery and intercepted Iranian communications. Axios reported that Israel intercepted communications showing Iranian officials deliberately gave false situation reports to their country’s political leadership, downplaying the extent of damage.
A former intelligence officer said the report’s low-confidence classification rendered it useless. ”
The fact that the DIA’s assessment was deemed ‘low-confidence’ means that you can wipe your ass with it,” the source said.
Another former operative agreed the initial assessment was likely “Iranians repeating propaganda to each other, as they have done throughout the war and preceding preparations.”
“It’s clear that those people had no idea what they were talking about, and I agree with the fact that undoubtedly all these [Iranians] knew their phones were being monitored by multiple countries and acted accordingly,” the former operative told the Free Beacon. “So, nothing that they said should have been used as any sort of gospel.”
Later reporting confirmed the strikes were highly effective, according to CNN —
🚨TRUTH AIRED ON CNN, FINALLY — After spreading fake news: "It worked! It seems to have worked flawlessly!"
Total Trump vindication.
"I think from what I've seen, the 20,000 centrifuges…they are all completely destroyed. I am VERY CONFIDENT those centrifuges are GONE!"
In… pic.twitter.com/1ZIPhzzsMR
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) June 26, 2025
Sen. Mark Warner, the vice chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, brushed aside Trump’s threat to prosecute Democrats.
“I have been extraordinarily consistent that leaks of any kind should be prosecuted. I simply wish that the administration would adhere to that same level of secrecy about classified information that shouldn’t be shared on non-classified channels like Signal,” Warner told reporters after senators received a classified briefing on the strikes.
Both Warner and Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton declined to answer questions about whether they knew of the DIA assessment before it was leaked.
A spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer denied the New York Democrat was briefed on the intelligence report before it leaked.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rick Crawford said he “does not comment on real or alleged classified information” but expressed frustration with “repeated, blatant disregard for the very simple, proper handling of classified information by those entrusted to safeguard sensitive information.”
“Chairman Crawford is confident there will be a thorough investigation into the matter and any offenders will face significant consequences. Under Chairman Crawford, the Committee is redoubling its efforts to prevent any mishandling of classified information on his watch. President Trump and the American people should know that we are taking this seriously and that the Committee can be trusted with classified material,” a spokesperson said.
Leavitt said very few people had access to the DIA report before Tuesday’s leak, which the White House said was done to undermine the significance of strikes that resulted in a ceasefire between Iran and Israel.
The strikes used 14 bunker-buster bombs, including the first combat use of 15-ton GBU-57 bombs, and satellite images show part of the mountain protecting Fordow was completely obliterated.