On the subject of safeguarding classified information, TPM Reader MF walks us down this memory lane …
That encrypted cable, intercepted and read by the United States, tipped off U.S. officials to the fact that Chalabi had betrayed the code-breaking operation, the U.S. officials said.
The U.S. sources said that, in the cable to Tehran, the Iranian official recounted how Chalabi had said that one of “them” â a reference to an American â had revealed the code-breaking operation, the officials said. The Iranian reported that Chalabi said the American had been drunk.
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The account of Chalabi’s actions has been confirmed by several senior U.S. officials, who said the leak contributed to the White House decision to break with him.
The FBI has opened an espionage investigation seeking to determine exactly what information Chalabi turned over to the Iranians as well as who told Chalabi that the Iranian code had been broken, government officials said.
The inquiry, still in an early phase, is focused on a very small number of people who were close to Chalabi and also had access to the highly restricted information about the Iran code.
