“They should be prosecuted!”: Trump blames Dems for Iran intel leaked to CNN

President Donald Trump accused Democrats of being behind the leak of an intelligence report that claimed the United States’ strikes on Iran were not as effective as the Trump administration said.

“The Democrats are the ones who leaked the information on the PERFECT FLIGHT to the Nuclear Sites in Iran. They should be prosecuted!” Trump wrote in a post to Truth Social. 

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt echoed the call for prosecutions at a press briefing on Thursday. 

“It could have been someone in the intelligence community, or it could have been someone on Capitol Hill who had access to this document. The FBI is searching for that person,” Leavitt said. 

Leavitt also directly addressed the CNN reporter, Natasha Bertrand, who first reported on the leaked intel earlier this week. 

“This is a reporter who has been unfortunately used by people who dislike Donald Trump in this government to push fake and false narratives,” Leavitt said. “She should be ashamed of herself.” 

Full tirade of Karoline Leavitt ripping into CNN reporter Natasha Bertrand for being “used” to spread false narratives by enemies of the president. pic.twitter.com/p0rUiFhslz

— Libby Emmons (@libbyemmons) June 26, 2025

CNN responded to Leavitt’s comments almost immediately.

“Our colleague Natasha Bertrand, who was singled out there repeatedly, is an excellent reporter,” CNN anchor Brianna Keilar said. “And she and our colleagues who broke this story — as they did on this DIA intelligence report — they made very clear that this was a preliminary report, that it is low confidence because it is preliminary. And we should also note, it’s a preliminary report that comes from the Trump administration.”

The Trump administration has been on the warpath against CNN and other legacy media outlets for most of this week. On Wednesday, Trump called for Bertrand to be fired by CNN and “thrown out like a dog.” The administration has continuously denied the claims shared in Bertrand’s story, calling the report “low-confidence.”

Trump continued critiquing reporters at CNN and The New York Times on Truth Social on Thursday, calling them “BAD PEOPLE WITH EVIL INTENTIONS!!!”