GOP Rep Suspects Leak Behind Botched SEAL Mission In North Korea

Former U.S. Navy SEAL officer and Republican Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke said Friday on CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper” that he suspects there was a leak behind the botched SEAL mission in North Korea.

The New York Times published a story Friday revealing details of how a 2019 SEAL Team 6 Red Squadron operation to plant an electronic device in North Korea went wrong. While discussing the report, CNN’s Jake Tapper asked Zinke for his response, noting that Congress did not receive any information about the operation beforehand, according to the NYT.

“Deeply, deeply disturbing. World War II, loose lips sink ships. To disclose this type of operation, the leak had to come from somewhere. The details are too great,” Zinke said. “So this is treasonous to disclose because what it does is that there’s no doubt been multiple operations since then, and there probably will be.”

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“But when you disclose details of an operation like this, it puts at risk every SEAL, every warrior, every special operations, every soldier, sailor,  airman, or Marine on future operations. It incurs greater risk,” Zinke added. “I think it was irresponsible for [The] New York Times to publish such an article. And what I’m hoping is, is they go back to the source, and they find the source, and they prosecute it.”

According to the New York Times, the operation sought to plant an electronic device in North Korea to allow the U.S. to intercept the communications of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. At the time, tensions between the two countries had escalated after nuclear talks collapsed during a February 2019 summit in Hanoi, Vietnam.

The SEAL team had allegedly prepped for months, but a North Korean boat appeared after they reached the country’s shore, prompting the SEALs to open fire and kill those on board, the NYT reported.

In addition to alleging that Congress had not been briefed before or after, the outlet also claimed President Donald Trump would have had to sign off on the mission directly due to its risks. Trump, during a press briefing Friday, denied having any knowledge of the operation.

“I don’t know anything about it, no. I’d have to — I could look, but I know nothing about that,” Trump said.

At the time of the 2019 summit, Trump abruptly ended the meeting and opted not to reach an agreement with Kim, saying that North Korea wanted all sanctions lifted in exchange for denuclearizing only part of the areas the U.S. had demanded. After the talks collapsed, Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to set foot in North Korea during a face-to-face meeting with Kim.