Purported leaked US intelligence docs appear to show Israel’s plans for attack on Iran
(WASHINGTON) — Documents purported to show classified U.S. intelligence gathering on Israel’s preparations for a potential retaliatory strike on Iran appeared on social media platforms this week. It is unclear what impact the potential leak may have on any Israeli military planning for a possible strike on Iran, or Israeli-American relations.
U.S. officials declined to provide comment when contacted by ABC News about the possible leak of highly-sensitive material.
ABC News could not independently verify the authenticity of the documents, which appear to show specific details about the types and number of munitions that Israel may be readying for a potentially large-scale strike on Iran in retaliation for the regime’s late September barrage of almost 200 ballistic missiles aimed at Israel.
The documents posted on social media have markings that would indicate that they originated from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), the U.S. agency that collects, analyzes and distributes intelligence gleaned from satellite and aerial imagery. ABC News is not quoting directly from or showing the documents.
Analysis of overhead satellite imagery is just one of multiple intelligence collection tools that the U.S. intelligence community uses to make strategic assessments or risk evaluations.
“We are looking into these reports,” a senior U.S. defense official told ABC News when asked about the purported intelligence documents.
The Department of Defense, Federal Bureau of Investigation and a spokesperson for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence all declined to provide any comment when contacted by ABC News.
If the posts prove authentic, it would signify a major intelligence breach, one reminiscent of the massive leak discovered last year after hundreds of classified documents were shared on the Discord social media platform.
Earlier this year U.S. Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira pleaded guilty to six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information relating to the Discord leaks.
Axios first reported on the leaked documents.
“If it is true that Israel tactical plans to respond to Iran’s attack on October 1st have been leaked, it is a serious breach,” said Mick Mulroy, an ABC News national security and defense contributor, who served as the deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East.
“Everyone that has access to this information has an obligation to keep it secure,” said Mulroy. “The men and women of the IDF that would carry out this mission could be compromised because of this, the future coordination between the U.S. and Israel could be challenged as well.”
“Trust is a key component in the relationship and depending on how this was leaked that trust could be eroded,” he added.
(BIRMINGHAM, Ala.) — Officials have announced up to $100,000 in reward money for information leading to the arrests of the gunmen behind a mass shooting in Birmingham, Alabama.
Multiple shooters are wanted for killing four people and injuring 17 others outside a lounge in the Five Points South Entertainment District on Saturday night.
Five of the injured victims remain in the hospital on Monday, Birmingham Police Chief Scott Thurmond said at a news conference.
Investigators have received a “significant number” of tips but are asking for more, the chief said.
The FBI is offering a reward up to $50,000 for information leading to the gunmen’s arrests and convictions, FBI Birmingham Special Agent in Charge Carlton Peeples announced at Monday’s news conference.
“If you, or you know someone, who has information about those involved in Saturday’s mass shooting, know that you can remain anonymous,” Peeples said.
Frank Barefield, chairman of Crime Stoppers of Metro Alabama, also announced a $50,000 reward — the group’s biggest reward ever.
“You can receive up to $100,000 if you have credible information that leads to, one, an arrest, and another, an actual conviction,” Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said. “It’s your time to step up. And we need you.”
“We cannot give safe harbor or shelter to people who want to just simply kill people. We cannot give them cover,” the mayor said. “They should not feel safe in our community — they should not feel safe anywhere.”
The chief said to the unknown gunmen, “We’re gonna hunt you down and we’re gonna arrest you.”
At least one person at the shooting scene was believed to have been targeted, police said.
Investigators believe the guns used were “converted to fully automatic,” Thurmond told ABC News on Sunday.
Fully automatic weapons “do not belong on the streets,” the chief said Monday.
Gabriel Eslami, who was shot and injured, said he was in a long line outside the lounge when he heard the gunshots.
“There’s bodies on the sidewalk. There’s smoke from the guns,” he told ABC News, describing the scene as like a “horror movie.”
Eslami said his friend rushed him to the hospital.
“I get there, I’m screaming, ‘Help! Help! I’ve been shot, I’ve been shot,'” he said.
“I’m so lucky,” he added.
The names of three of the four people killed have been released by police: 21-year-old Anitra Holloman, 27-year-old Tahj Booker and 27-year-old Carlos McCain.
ABC News’ Stephanie Ramos contributed to this report.
(MOSCOW, Idaho) — The wheels of justice turn slowly, and it’s not cheap to keep them grinding.
Still more than nine months before Bryan Kohberger’s capital murder trial is scheduled to begin — and still without a definitive answer on where in Idaho it will be held — local government leaders in the area where four students were stabbed to death in 2022 do know one thing: The trial will cost taxpayers a lot of money, so the county requires a cash infusion, officials have decided — wherever it ends up taking place.
To that end, Latah County District Court has been granted a significant increase for next year: The county’s Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved boosting the trial expense budget to $150,000 for fiscal year 2025 — more than 40 times their 2024 budget of $3,500.
It’s not the first time the financial impact of the case has come up. In 2023, prosecutors leading the case against Kohberger requested a $135,000 budget. Even then, they said, their part could cost more than eight times what’s typically allotted annually.
Prosecutors allege that in the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2022, Kohberger, then a criminology Ph.D. student at nearby Washington State University, broke into an off-campus home and stabbed four University of Idaho students to death: Ethan Chapin, 20; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21.
After a six-week hunt, police zeroed in on Kohberger as the suspect, arresting him in December 2022 at his family’s home in Pennsylvania. He was indicted in May 2023 and charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary. At his arraignment, he declined to offer a plea, so the judge entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.
His lawyers have said Kohberger was driving around alone and not near the crime scene on the night the killings occurred, and say they’ll have expert cellphone analysis to back that up.
The trial is currently set for June 2025.
Kohberger could face the death penalty, if convicted.
With the pretrial process creeping forward, the financial line items associated with the case continue to accrue.
Once the trial kicks off, according to the approved Latah County budget, expenses could include travel and lodging costs for jurors and bailiffs. Since jurors in the complex and high-profile case will need supplies, including meals, the court also requested a large increase in its jury supplies budget: from $3,500 to $50,000.
The approved budget to cover witness fees is also substantially higher than last year’s, primarily to pay for the travel costs of witnesses scheduled to testify in court, according to the budget.
The commissioners also approved $20,000 in contracts and labor in preparation for a trial in Latah County.
If the trial is held in Latah County, this money would be used to hire extra workers for jury management, according to Latah County Clerk Julie Fry.
But whether the trial will stay in Latah County remains to be seen, and has become a point of pretrial contention. Kohberger’s lawyers argue the “pressure to convict” their client in the area showed to be “so severe,” those jurors couldn’t possibly be impartial. In fact, they argue, the “mob mentality” of the tightknit community is the “exact reason” the trial should be moved to another area of Idaho, where it could be heard by people with less of an emotional connection to what has been nearly two years and counting of news coverage about it.
“The traumatized town of Moscow is understandably filled with deeply held prejudgment opinions of guilt,” Kohberger attorney Elisa Massoth said in a recent court filing in their push to move the trial to Ada County, and the state capital of Boise.
Prosecutors, meanwhile, contend that people in Boise have TVs and newspapers too, so moving it would be futile — and the focus instead should be on “crafting remedial measures” to ensure a fair and impartial jury can be seated right where they are.
Both sides have attempted to cite frugality to support their opposing positions.
“Any consideration related to costs of prosecution and defense make Ada County a logical choice with the largest airport in the state,” Kohberger attorney Anne Taylor said in a July filing. “There will be a number of witnesses traveling into Idaho and Ada County is a more cost-effective option,” she said, adding that keeping the trial in more far-flung Moscow “will require most witnesses to travel to Spokane, Washington and rent a car to drive to the Latah County Courthouse.”
In arguing against the change of venue, prosecutors have also pointed to court coffers.
“The transfer of trial to Ada County would come at an extraordinary cost,” prosecuting attorney Bill Thompson wrote in a filing earlier this month. “Whether out-of-state witnesses fly into Lewiston, Spokane, or even Boise, the cost of rental vehicles for a handful of out-of-state witnesses is only a fraction of the total cost picture.”
Were the trial to move to Boise, he said, the need for more witness hotel rentals would skyrocket, as would pulling police and emergency dispatch witnesses from their work “for days, rather than hours, creating a ripple effect of inconvenience.”
“While Defense counsel took this case on a contract basis and will have to travel whether the trial is had in Ada County or in Latah County, the same is not true for the Court, the court reporter, the court clerk, and the Court’s staff attorney,” Thompson said.
“The State, which has the burden of proof and must deal with the logistics of juggling witnesses and trial exhibits would have to relocate both of its lead attorneys, as well as its support and victim services staff, for weeks and likely months,” Thompson continued. “This would come at great expense for lodging, transportation, and per diem.”
A hearing on whether to change the trial’s venue is set for Thursday.
(NASHVILLE, TN.) — One person is dead, and nine others are shot and injured after gunfire erupted during homecoming celebration events for Tennessee State University, Nashville Police Department officials said.
Of the nine injured, three were juveniles ranging in age from 12-14 years old, and all are in non-critical condition at a local hospital, MNPD Public Affairs Director Don Aaron said.
Shortly after 5 p.m., an exchange of gunfire occurred between two groups of people. Officials said it was likely that innocent bystanders were shot during the incident. A total of ten people were shot, with one person, a 24-year-old, succumbing to their injuries.
Five people were transported to local hospitals via ambulance. Five others were transported by private vehicle, Metro Nashville Police Department Public Affairs Officer Brooke Reese said.
Officials believe that some of those injured and hospitalized were involved and are suspected of being involved in the gunfire, said Reese.
Injuries range from minor to critical condition, with some sustaining graze wounds, said Aaron.
One gun, a handgun, was recovered at the scene, he said. Officials believe that the suspects used handguns in the shooting.
Fire and police officials were already at the event to participate in the homecoming parade earlier today, authorities said. Some personnel were already at the scene when gunfire erupted, and used their belts to apply tourniquets to gunshot victims, Nashville Fire Department PIO Kendra Loney said.
Most people celebrating homecoming went to the Tennessee State University football game, which is being held at Nissan Stadium, Nashville North Precinct Commander Anthony McClain said. During the day, there was a large group of people gathered for the parade.
When the gunfire began about two hours ago during the event, “a few folks ruined it for everybody,” McClain said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.