Trump aggressively pushing DOJ to investigate alleged Iran war media leaks: Report

WASHINGTON, DC: Even as President Donald Trump grappled with the mounting pressure of securing peace with Iran, he found himself confronting yet another high-stakes challenge.

The 79-year-old commander-in-chief has reportedly been aggressively pushing the Department of Justice to investigate media leaks in the wake of the Iran war.

Administration officials familiar with the matter revealed to the Wall Street Journal that Trump was especially angered by reports detailing how he reached the decision to launch the war and revealing the advice his aides gave him during internal deliberations.

Trump hands over the 'treason’ files to Todd Blanche

Trump reportedly first complained about the media leak to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche last month, prompting an aggressive push at the Justice Department to pursue those investigations.

According to sources, the president, during a meeting, handed Blanche a stack of news articles that he and other senior officials believed posed a threat to national security, attaching a sticky note labelled “treason.”

In response, the acting attorney general has pledged to subpoena reporters who have relayed sensitive information about the war.

The Journal further reported that attorneys from the Justice Department have already held discussions with Defense Department lawyers regarding the matter.

Another official told CNN that the Justice Department’s National Security Division had already been preparing to examine the sources behind some of the reports, but Trump’s stack of articles reportedly intensified and sped up the effort.

The Journal reported on Monday, May 11, that it had received a grand jury subpoena seeking reporters’ records connected to an article published just five days before the war began.

The article was about Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen Dan Caine and others at the Pentagon who warned the president about the risks of an extended military campaign against Iran.

Pete Hegseth accuses Sen Mark Kelly of revealing classified information

Trump doesn’t appear to be the only one concerned about the information leak. His Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also looked into the matter, accusing Sen Mark Kelly (D-AZ) of divulging classified information during an interview on CBS’s 'Face the Nation'.

Hegseth took aim at Kelly after Margaret Brennan highlighted the senator's warning that the US war with Iran had reduced American stockpiles, sarcastically responding online, “‘Captain’ Mark Kelly strikes again.”

“Now he’s blabbing on TV (falsely & dumbly) about a *CLASSIFIED* Pentagon briefing he received. Did he violate his oath…again?” Hegseth wrote.

The defense secretary added that the Pentagon’s legal counsel “will review” the Democratic lawmaker’s remarks.

Kelly and the Pentagon are already locked in a legal dispute after the Arizona senator sued the department in January over Hegseth’s decision to reduce his retired military rank. Hegseth also issued Kelly a formal letter of censure.