Democratic lawmakers fumed Wednesday after the Trump administration decided to limit sharing classified information with Congress on the heels of a humiliating intelligence leak.
The administration said it would limit posting on the Capitol Network, a system where lawmakers can access classified information, one day after a defense agency’s preliminary assessment of the U.S. strikes on Iran was leaked to the media. The decision was first reported by Axios and confirmed to the Daily Beast by a White House official.
An early report by the Defense Intelligence Agency, leaked Tuesday to CNN and The New York Times, assessed that President Donald Trump’s attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities over the weekend did not “obliterate” the targets, as he has repeatedly claimed, but at most set back the Iranian nuclear program by just a few months.
The FBI is now investigating the leak, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News’ America Reports on Wednesday.
“This was a top-secret intelligence analysis that very few people in the United States government had access to see,” she said. “And so I understand the FBI and the Department of Justice are already on this, as they should be.”
For Democratic lawmakers, however, Congress shouldn’t pay the price for the embarrassing leak.
Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes, a ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, told Axios it was “unacceptable for the administration to use unsubstantiated speculation” to ”justify cutting off Congress” from classified information.
“The law requires the congressional intelligence committees to be kept fully and currently informed, and I expect the Intelligence Community to comply with the law,” he said.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer thinks “this isn’t about national security—it’s about Trump’s insecurity.”
“President Trump is cutting off intelligence to Congress, raising one clear question: what is he hiding?” he told Axios.
Illinois Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, another member of the House Intelligence Committee, blasted the move as a form of censorship.
If the White House is limiting congressional access to classified information because the facts contradict the President’s claims, that’s not national security—it’s political censorship. Congress must have full access to assess the consequences of these operations and ensure… https://t.co/KQWGBv0JGB
— Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (@CongressmanRaja) June 25, 2025
“If the White House is limiting congressional access to classified information because the facts contradict the President’s claims, that’s not national security—it’s political censorship,” he said on X. “Congress must have full access to assess the consequences of these operations and ensure accountability and oversight.”
Colorado Rep. Jason Crow noted that the Trump administration’s latest decision followed the postponement of classified briefings for lawmakers on the strikes against Iran.
“What is Trump trying to hide?” he wrote in an X post. “The law is clear–Congress must be kept fully informed. We pass the budget & play a role in keeping America safe. As a member of the Intel Committee, I won’t back down.”
What is Trump trying to hide?First he canceled classified briefings. Now he’s trying to stop oversight.The law is clear–Congress must be kept fully informed. We pass the budget & play a role in keeping America safe.As a member of the Intel Committee, I won’t back down. pic.twitter.com/eRtzLvNe0W
— Rep. Jason Crow (@RepJasonCrow) June 25, 2025
In a Tuesday night Truth Social meltdown and a Wednesday press conference, Trump erupted in outrage at the media for reporting on the intelligence assessment that countered his claims about the attack on Iran.
“What they’ve done is they’ve tried to make this unbelievable victory into something less,” he said.
“The intelligence was very inconclusive. The intelligence says ‘We don’t know, it could have been very severe,’” Trump added later on. “That’s what the intelligence says. So I guess that’s correct.”
The post Dems Rage Against Trump’s Block on Intel After Massive Iran Leak appeared first on The Daily Beast.
