Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), former chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, voiced concern over how quickly classified information is being leaked from within the Trump administration.
Speaking with CNN’s The Arena host Kasie Hunt on Tuesday, McCaul reacted to a report that President Donald Trump’s airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites may not have achieved their intended goal. According to three anonymous sources cited by CNN, the strikes failed to destroy the facilities, contradicting Trump’s public assertion that they had been “obliterated.”
“It’s unfortunate that intelligence gets leaked so quickly in this administration,” McCaul said. “I understand the president’s frustration.”
McCaul confirmed he had previously been briefed on the plan and noted that full destruction of the facilities was never the goal.
“The mission was designed to cause significant damage, not total destruction,” he explained. “It was always understood to be a temporary setback. Iran would likely be able to rebuild the centrifuges.”
CNN reported the strikes may have delayed Iran’s nuclear program by only a few months at most.
The White House swiftly pushed back on CNN’s report. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed the claims and harshly criticized the anonymous source behind the leak.
“This alleged assessment is flat-out wrong,” said Leavitt. “It was classified as ‘top secret’ but was leaked by a low-level loser in the intelligence community trying to undermine President Trump and discredit the heroic fighter pilots who flawlessly executed the mission.”
Leavitt added, “When you drop fourteen 30,000-pound bombs directly on target, the result is total obliteration.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also denounced the report.
Despite the administration’s denials, CNN stood by its reporting and stated the assessment had since been verified by other news organizations.
