GOP Rep. Michael McCaul Tells CNN ‘It’s Unfortunate That Intelligence Gets Leaked So Quickly In This Administration’

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), the former chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told CNN on Tuesday it was “unfortunate” that “intelligence gets leaked so quickly” in the Trump administration.

After three unnamed sources told CNN that President Donald Trump’s strikes on Iran failed to take out the country’s nuclear facilities, despite Trump’s claim that they had all been destroyed, McCaul told The Arena host Kasie Hunt:

Well, it’s unfortunate that intelligence gets leaked so quickly in this administration. I understand the president’s frustration. Having said that, it did cause significant damage, and I think that’s important in terms of a time to negotiate a peaceful resolution.

However, and I’ve been briefed on this plan in the past, it was never to completely destroy these three facilities, but rather cause significant damage, but it was always known to be a temporary setback where they could then rebuild the centrifuges.

CNN reported on Tuesday that, contrary to Trump’s claims about Iran’s nuclear facilities being destroyed, the strikes had likely only “set them back maybe a few months, tops.”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth both lashed out at the report, with Leavitt blaming a “low-level loser” for leaking the information.

“This alleged assessment is flat-out wrong and was classified as ‘top secret’ but was still leaked to CNN by an anonymous, low-level loser in the intelligence community,” said Leavitt. “The leaking of this alleged assessment is a clear attempt to demean President Trump, and discredit the brave fighter pilots who conducted a perfectly executed mission to obliterate Iran’s nuclear program. Everyone knows what happens when you drop fourteen 30,000 pound bombs perfectly on their targets: total obliteration.”

CNN stood by its report, telling Mediaite in a statement that the information had “since been confirmed by other news organizations.”

Watch above via CNN.