Attorney General Jeff Sessions will hold a press conference Friday to address investigations into criminal leaks and his plans to crack down on them.
President Donald Trump has increased focus on the constant flow of leaks his administration has suffered, and now the attorney general may take a more public stand against leakers who break the law, Fox News reports. Sessions' remarks are expected to describe how the Department of Justice will further pursue illegal leaks, but it is unclear whether he will name specific investigations or offer an overview of department efforts to protect secrets.
Republicans in the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee wrote a report in July that called on the Department of Justice to strengthen investigations into chronic leaking. The report was entitled "State Secrets: How and Avalanche of Media Leaks is Harming National Security" and the authors wrote that an "unprecedented wave" of sensitive information was being leaked.
"To ensure the security of our country's most sensitive information, federal law enforcement officials ought to thoroughly investigate leaks of potentially sensitive information flowing at an alarming rate," the study's executive summary said.
Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci made leaks his top priority and threatened to "fire everybody" because of them. Now Scaramucci is out of the administration and Sessions may take a more leading role on the issue.
Trump has criticized Sessions in recent weeks over a variety of issues, most notably his decision to recuse himself from the Russia investigation. Trump called Sessions "our beleaguered A.G.," which Sessions said was "hurtful" but would not affect his commitment to the Justice Department.
Trump has also said Sessions should do more to deal with the leaks coming out of the administration.
"I want the attorney general to be much tougher," Trump said on July 25. "I want the leaks from intelligence agencies, which are leaking like rarely have they ever leaked before, at a very important level. These are intelligence agencies we cannot have that happen."