- WASHINGTON: CIA director Leon Panetta is warning his employees that leakers will be investigated and possibly prosecuted after a flurry of reports in the media about the technology and methods used to track and ultimately kill Osama Bin Laden.
In a memo obtained by the AP, Panetta told staff Wednesday that the disclosure of classified information to anyone not cleared for it — reporters, friends, colleagues in other agencies or former CIA officers — can endanger lives.
The warning follows media reports that the CIA operated a safe house, as well as new stealth drone technology reported by The Washington Post, to spy on Bin Laden’s Pakistani hideout.
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, also said Wednesday people should stop talking about the raid.
